You know what would be great? If we could get a Superman movie with a villain from the comics who ISN'T either Lex Luthor or Zod. I like both those characters fine, but Superman has a bunch of underrated villains who never get the chance to play on the big screen.
Now, it's true that I love reading Superman comics, and while I'm not exactly a fan of Man of Steel by any stretch of the imagination, I am nervously excited for Batman v Superman. Even though, yeah, I'd rather see a Batman/Superman team-up film, but that's just me. I like watching heroes punch villains, not each other, and here's a pretty good list of villains for Supes to punch. I'm sure he can find a way to take a few of "˜em out without leveling a city this time.
Source: DC.wikia.com
10. Mr. Mxyzptlk
Woo for weird fifties comic book characters who never get their due in adaptations! Seriously, Mxyzptlk gets screwed in televised appearances.
A couple decent Superman the Animated Series episodes? A really weird, bad episode in the fourth season of Smallville? Come on, we can do better!!! Bat-Mite got his great adaptation in Batman: The Brave and The Bold, why can't we get Mxyzptlk one of those? How hard is it?
As I mentioned in my previous article on Silver Age Superman comics, Mr. Mxyzptlk is an all-powerful, reality-warping imp from the fifth dimension who just enjoys messing with Superman. He has the powers of a god and the pettiness of a child. That's the kind of combination that makes for a fantastic goshdarn villain. Mxyzptlk could make for a fun Superman film, one that would be a bit lighter in tone than the last few. More in line with a Donner than a Snyder, but hey, those are my favorite Superman films, so seeing a return to form wouldn't be unwelcome.
Source: comicvine.gamespot.com
9. Imperiex
THIS LIST NEEDED TEN VILLAINS, OK?!
Yeah, Imperiex isn't the BEST villain in the world, and his only real star-turn (Our Worlds at War) isn't super great, even though I have a soft spot for it. But someone like Imperiex would be a great villain for a movie to really innovate on.
He's an armored, scary warrior, powered by the Big Bang. That's a pretty good threat for Superman to fight any day of the week. And his lack of an interesting backstory means he'd be more or less a blank slate for a movie to really do something cool with.
Plus, Imperiex is a good unifying threat to bring the DCU together for a team-up. A good first enemy for the Justice League, maybe, to give Darkseid a little more build-up before he finally shows up. But, either way, it'd be really interesting to see a version of Imperiex with a little more character to him.
Source: DC.wikia.com
8. Terra-Man
Yeah, no, this entry isn't FOR you. It's for me. To talk about why Terra-Man is rad.
So, like, move along if you aren't totally up for me to go on at length about Terra-Man, who is a cowboy who uses alien weapons to perpetrate space crimes.
Because that's what Terra-Man is.
Tobias Manning was a child in the old west before an alien criminal killed his father and abducted the young boy to serve as his sidekick. He fashioned futuristic weaponry to look like old west gear and trained Toby in its use. As an adult, Toby killed the alien and set off as a space criminal known as Terra-Man. He then tamed a flying alien horse and rode it around the galaxy, because Terra-Man is rad. Of course, that's Pre-Crisis Terra-Man. Post-Crisis Terra-Man is an environmentalist businessman or something but who cares, because that is infinitely inferior to a space cowboy.
Terra-Man is on this list not just because of his radness, but also because, come on, who wouldn't watch a movie where Superman fights a space cowboy? People who hate fun, that's who!
Source: thaiembassyuk.org
7. Ultraman
What if Superman were the greatest supervillain on earth? Well, you'd have Ultraman, the Superman of Earth-3.
On Earth-3, good and bad are inverted. President John Wilkes Booth was assassinated by the cowardly Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Luthor is the greatest hero of all time, and the Crime Society of America rule the nation with an iron fist.
Born El-Kal (Spanish for "The Kal") Ultraman came to Earth-3 and gained incredible powers. Given strength by Kryptonite and (sometimes) weakened by the sun (it depends on the version of the character), Ultraman helped form the Crime Syndicate with his girlfriend Superwoman and rival Owlman, among others.
Ultraman would make a great movie villain, showing what Clark could have become without the influence of Johnathan and Martha Kent. It'd also give him an equal match who WASN'T Zod, for a change. Plus, it'd be a great way to introduce the DC Multiverse into the movies. And I love me some Multiverse stories. I even like Hypertime.
Source: comicsblog.fr
6. Parasite
Man, if you're a janitor for a massive corporation in the DCU, you're gonna get screwed one way or another.
Rudy Jones was a S.T.A.R. Labs janitor, until he was irradiated, because Darkseid thought it would be cool to get a new supervillain to fight Superman. As a result, Rudy became horrifically deformed and gloriously pink and gained superpowers.
His new power was the ability to leach energy and life force from his victims. He eventually discovered that he could gain the ultimate high and sate his hunger by feeding off of Superman, and that's exactly what he wants to do. Unfortunately (for him), Parasite tends to have a pattern of biting off more than he can chew (heh) and almost killing himself with energy overloads.
Parasite would make an excellent film villain, due especially to the nature of his powers. He's a perfect foe to weaken Superman without resorting to Kryptonite as a plot device. Also, like Metallo, he has some great visual design to be used.
Source: total-geeks.com
5. Cyborg Superman
Hey. Can you tell I have a thing for Superman villains with creepy visual designs?
Cyborg Superman was arguably the best thing to come out of the whole Death of Superman thing. And, as someone who's read through the entire death/funeral/reign of the supermen/return thing more than once, there isn't a lot in there worth salvaging. But the cyborg? Oh, yeah, he is.
Hank Henshaw was a run-of-the-mill, one-off villain. In a parody of the Fantastic Four's origin, Hank was one of a crew of astronauts who were irradiated in space and returned with powers that were actually slowly and horribly killing them. But Hank didn't die. He actually gained the ability to force his consciousness into machines. Using this, he slowly but steadily built himself a new body. When Superman seemed to have died, Henshaw turned himself into a cyborg duplicate before turning evil in the least surprising twist of all time.
Henshaw would make a great Superman villain, and would also make a great foe for a Superman/Green Lantern team-up film, since he has history with both characters.
Source: dccomics.com
4. Bizarro
A failed clone of Superman, Bizarro is the DCU equivalent of Frankenstein's monster. Or, I mean, he would be if Frankenstein's monster wasn't already a DC character, but never mind, not the point.
Bizarro varies based on depiction and character version, but he's usually portrayed as a misunderstood creature, whom Superman doesn't so much fight as rehabilitate.
It would make a nice counterpoint to Man of Steel to see Superman deal with a threat that can't be solved by punching it in the face.
Ok, ok, I get that Bizarro probably couldn't carry a movie by himself, but he would work as a minion of someone like Luthor. In fact, I would much rather have seen him in Doomsday's role in BvS. At least Bizarro's a character, Doomsday has never been more than a plot device. Poor Bizarro, he never gets his due. Although I concede the backwards speak can get a little annoying at times.
Source: dc.wikia.com
3. Metallo
John Corben was a soldier under the command of General Sam Lane. Motivated at least partially by an unrequited love for the General's daughter, Lois, Corben underwent dangerous and experimental procedures to fight Superman.
Unfortunately for him though, he endured a horrible accident and emerged more machine now than man.
With a kryptonite power source for a heart and a mechanical exo/endoskeleton depending on the version of the character, Metallo goes to work trying to kill Superman using his enhanced strength and Kryptonite heart.
Metallo would be excellent for a film appearance, and not just for his creepy visual design. Having a villain with a connection to Lois would give her a better connection to the plot than she's typically given in Superman movies, which would be a good thing. Come on, who doesn't want to see Superman punch the kryptonite-hearted terminator? Because I DO. I do so, so very, very much.
Source: comicvine.gamespot.com
2. Mongul
Ah, Mongul, the Superman villain everyone forgets about. I love Mongul, and not JUST because he features in one of the best Superman stories of all time. "For the Man Who Has Everything" may be great, but Mongul's pretty cool on his own too.
Mongul runs Warworld, a planetary gladiator arena and battlestation that cruises around the galaxy destroying stuff. As a big, scary, strong guy, Mongul typically fights Superman physically, or by imprisoning him in gladiatorial combat.
A Mongul-focused Superman movie would be a good chance to get him off-planet. I've always loved Superman in space stories, and Mongul presents some opportunities for good ones. Plus, with a threat like Warworld, Superman could cut loose without endangering any innocent civilians this time.
Oh, and Mongul named his daughter "Mongal" which is literally the best. It's perfect. Whoever came up with that deserves an Eisner.
Source: macheat.com
1. Brainiac
This is the most obvious number one on any list I've ever written. Like, I shouldn't have even had to type anything here, other than "Duh."
I wouldn't hesitate to call Brainiac the second best Superman foe of all time. He's smart and cunning and truly alien. People who don't know what they're talking about call Superman the ultimate outsider, but no, that's Brainiac. Superman integrates, Brainiac isolates. Heck, Brainiac's hobby is literally bottling up cities so he can observe them from the outside.
When Superman and Brainiac come to blows, it's a story of Kal-El fighting for his true home against the cold alien machinery of Brainiac's design. I'm honestly struggling to find words to talk about Brainiac other than WHY HASN'T HE BEEN THE VILLAIN IN A SUPERMAN MOVIE YET, OH, MY GOD?!!
And yes, I know that he ALMOST was a couple of times, but none of that counts. Until I see the tall green creepy dude with the three connected dots on his forehead onscreen, I shall not rest!!! I mean, it'll never happen because his name isn't Zod or Luthor, but whatever. A man can dream.
