As a child who loved comics, what always fascinated me about the DC Universe was its breadth. They generally played faster and looser, and while that may have resulted in a universe that seemed (to me, at least) slightly more impenetrable than Marvel's, it birthed some seriously awesome and weird characters that make Squirrel Girl and Rocket Raccoon look normal.
WB should be embracing this in their films, so here's just a few of my recommendations for future characters in the films:
1. Blue Beetle & Booster Gold
First entry and I'm already cheating. But how could you mention one without the other?
Blue Beetle was a legacy character purchased by DC from Charlton. He has no powers, but he is a proficient scientist and always inventing gadgets to help him on his adventures.
Booster Gold, created by Dan Jurgens (of "Death of Superman" fame) is a time traveler, a glory stealing show-off from the future.
The relationship between these 2 characters was
popularized by Keith Giffen in the "Bwahaha" era of the Justice League, one of the most highly revered and humorous runs in the title's history. Their crude humor and childish pranks provided
nonstop laughs for the reader and nonstop annoyances for the other JL members.
It's still not too late to add them to the Justice League script!
2. Mxyzptlk
Remember how frustrated and angry Henry Cavill was for the entirety of BvS? Traditionally, in the comics, it's only Mxyzptlk who can frustrate Superman to this degree. You see, Superman's powers are utterly useless against magic and the only way Superman can stop Mxyzptlk from reigning havoc on his life is to trick the imp into saying his name backwards. Sound like fun yet?
There's a storyline where the Joker tricks Mxyzptlk into giving his powers to Joker. Let's keep Leto out of the Batman film and put Emperor Joker in the next Superman movie!
3. The Heckler
A personal favorite, this little known character only lasted 6 issues in the early 1990's. He's a tongue in cheek, enemy heckling hero, ripe for revival as DC's oddball answer to Deadpool. Everything that worked in that film can be played to the Nth degree as The Heckler battles Generic Man, who is poisoning the city's water supply in an attempt to make everyone as generic as himself.
At its heart, it's a comic about the death of individuality at the hands of corporate interests. Surely that's more relavent now than it was in 1992, isn't it? The power compels you, DC. REVIVE. THIS. CHARACTER.
4. Plastic Man
"He can spring! He can stretch! He can fly! He can bounce! He can change his shape! And he can even DANCE!!!"
Yes, some of us still remember the cartoon and we want to see a superhero with stretching powers dance on the big screen.
Plastic Man, another legacy character that DC bought from a defunct publisher, has been known for surrealism and slapstick humor since his very first appearances. He thrives in the bizarre and peculiar. Pair him with his bumbling sidekick Woozy Winks and let the hijinx ensue.
5. Captain Carrot
Eat your heart out, Howard the Duck.
If there is an alternate reality in the DCEU where Darkseid reigns supreme and Red Son Batman brutally murders the Superman Corps. with assault rifles, then surely there must be a reality with a superhero rabbit and his amazing Zoo Crew. Let's explore that reality in the next Knightmare Batman sequence.
And the best part? In Captain Carrot's reality, he works for DC Comics as a writer and artist. The potential for meta-commentary is boundless.
6. Ambush Bug
Yet another Keith Giffen entry. Picture the awesome visual of a human sized insect in a plaid 1980's leisure suit. His sidekick is a stuffed doll and his arch-enemy is a giant living sock in a Doctor Doom mask. Oh, and it might all be an illusion, because Ambush Bug has a mental illness that prevents him from fully understanding the complexities of our reality.
He means well, but he's totally incompetent. If BvS was about heroes being worshipped as gods, Ambush Bug is the anti-BvS. He wants to be a hero, but he just can't hack it. He's nothing more than an aggravating twerp to Batman and Superman. Which could certainly create an interesting dynamic.
7. Starfire
On the surface, Starfire is a character mired in convoluted soap operatic origins filled with the same grimdark imagery that critics chastised in BvS.
But despite enduring a lifetime of mistreatment and betrayal, Starfire has a remarkably upbeat demeanor, and her inability to fully understand human emotions and motivations could play well off of human characters.
I think the perfect script and actress could provide a legendary theatrical performance in a Teen Titans film.
8. Inferior Five
This film would be what Scary Movie is to the Scream franchise. So it wouldn't take place in the DCEU per se, but it could still work awesome as a total parody of the Justice League. In the comics, they are the children of the "Freedom Brigade," whose members bear strong resemblances to the Justice League and other superteams.
Merryman - Leader of the group and highly intelligent. A 98 pound weakling who wears a jester costume. He is the son of a Captain America-like patriot character.
Awkwardman - A bizarre parody of the amalgamated powers of Superman and Aquaman. He is super strong, but needs to submerge in water every few minutes. He's also really dumb and clumsy.
The Blimp - The obese son of The Flash, he can fly at really slow speeds, as long as the wind is cooperating with him.
White Feather - A play on Green Arrow. He has an anxiety disorder and gets nervous around people. He's a very skilled archer, as long as no one is looking.
Dumb Bunny - Picture the love child of Wonder Woman and Legally Blonde. She is the posh, spoiled daughter of the queen of the Amazonians.
9. Starman/Stargirl
James Robinson's venerable Starman series of the mid-nineties turned the little known Starman character into a whole franchise, an epic familial saga that spanned generations and extolled the notion of carrying on a legacy.
Jack Knight's father was Starman in the JSA in the 50's and 60's. His brother picked up the mantle, but soon died. Jack, a typical 90's Gen X-er, wants nothing to do with the family business, but is forced to carry on the legacy in order to save his father and avenge his brother. After a number of adventures on both earth and in the farthest reaches of space, Jack chooses to then pass the mantle on to a young protege, Stargirl.
If DC could pull off all that in a film (or better yet, series of films) while giving it a strong Spielbergian influence, it would surely be an unbridled success. Fun for the whole family.
10. Granny Goodness
Come on. Even Marvel wouldn't have the guts to put something like this on the big screen. But you must admit, it's the only logical response to a talking raccoon with guns. And I'm calling it right here with the fancast:
BETTY. WHITE.
If you want levity in your films, just envision Betty White beating the crap out of Superman. I'd shell out the extra dough to see that in IMAX 3D. Twice even.
Did I forget any classic, hilarious DC characters? Let me know in the comments below!