The DC Extended Universe – which is the name for the cinematic universe in which Henry Cavill’s Superman and Ben Affleck’s Batman reside – is about to explode into life.

With only 2013’s Man of Steel to its name so far, next year will see the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. There are also eight further films scheduled for release after those, which will take the franchise up to 2020.

With that in mind, there are going to be a lot of characters introduced – many of them villains (such is the nature of comic book movies). All of the major characters will have an impact to some extent, but it’s the villains who will really look to shake things up.

Whether it’s because of the way they effect the other characters in the franchise, the destruction they cause, or the fact that they genuinely have the power and influence to change the world entirely (or indeed anything else), villains can be extremely impactful in any given universe.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the ten villains whose presence is most likely to make the biggest impact on the DC Extended Universe. So, without further ado, let’s get on with it!

Ares

Ares is set to appear in 2017’s Wonder Woman as one of two villains posing a threat to the Amazonian heroine. Along with Circe, he will go up against Wonder Woman in what looks likely to be the 1920s – but his impact will be greater than that of the wicked sorceress’.

He will use Circe to attack Wonder Woman’s homeland of Themyscira – effectively working in the background as the mastermind behind the attack- and this will result in Circe being defeated in the movie, while he remains at large.

Not only will it be his scheme that contributes to Wonder Woman leaving Themyscira to head to America, he will also be looking for revenge on her for her victory – and he could show up in future movies, having come up with an even more fiendish plot.

Ares could become the DCEU’s lite version of the MCU’s Thanos – operating in the background, waiting for the moment to strike. Eventually, he will get his hands dirty – perhaps alongside an evil army of his own creation – and he will go up against several heroes, rather than just Wonder Woman.

Enchantress

Enchantress will be portrayed by Cara Delevingne in next year’s Suicide Squad and her existence will really shake things up in the DCEU.

She will be the first character in the modern era to exhibit magical abilities and, as a result, will give every single character a new potential problem to deal with.

Her emergence will result in heroes and organisations having to develop new contingency plans to deal with magical threats. She represents a completely new kind of entity – one that will increase in number now that she has come out of the shadows.

Not only will she be the focal point of the movie – the titular Suicide Squad’s mission supposedly heavily involves her – she will also be putting the frighteners on the entire DCEU thanks to the weird nature of her powers.

Sinestro

Sinestro hasn’t even been confirmed to appear in the DCEU yet, but rest assured he will. He’ll be the main antagonist in the 2020 Green Lantern Corps movie and his impact will be huge.

He will likely start the movie as a Green Lantern himself – like he did in the awful 2011 offering – but go on to form his own yellow fear Corps (the Sinestro Corps) and go up against the Green Lanterns as the main villain.

This will rock the entire universe, as Green Lanterns from every sector (of which there are 3600) will have to come together to face him and his own Corps.

The fight against him may even kill off several Green Lanterns, resulting in new ones being recruited – probably including at least one from Earth.

The Joker

Jared Leto is set to make his first appearance as The Joker in next year’s Suicide Squad (unless he cameos in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice somehow) – but that will be far from his only appearance in the DCEU.

He’s likely to go on to be Batman’s main nemesis in the franchise – as you would expect – but he could be so much more than that.

Unlike previous versions of the character in movies, this version is likely to work alongside other villains – that way, his impact can be even greater than before. Expect him to collaborate with the likes of Lex Luthor when it comes to forming a team of supervillains.

With Joker and Luthor in charge of recruitment, an Injustice League or Crime Syndicate team could really cause some havoc in the DCEU.

Black Adam

Black Adam has officially been cast in the DCEU. None other than action superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been cast as the supervillain (and sometimes anti-hero) and he will make his first appearance in 2019’s Shazam movie.

In the comic books, Black Adam is one of the most destructive characters in existence. His battles often level buildings and he really has no thoughts of the consequences.

If people thought that Superman’s battle with General Zod in Man of Steel was destructive, just wait until Black Adam has a fight – there’ll be one hell of a mess.

Moreover, the fact that he is empowered by magical means to have physical attributes on a par with the likes of Superman will bring a whole new type of character to the universe.

Brainiac

Although he hasn’t yet been confirmed to appear, it is strongly expected that Brainiac will be the first villain that the DCEU Justice League will face off against as a collective.

He’ll also represent the first non-Kryptonian alien threat, which will alert the people of the DCEU to the existence of an even wider universe, which could in turn result in mass panic – look at the impact that Superman and General Zod’s fight is set to have in next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

He may actually be the reason the Justice League actually form. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will lay the foundations, but the threat posed by Brainiac could be the reason they officially come together as a team.

Moreover, he has the ability to tap into the world’s technology. His impact on the Earth could be massive, therefore. He may even control every device on the planet or shrink some of Earth’s cities to tiny sizes, such is the level of his power.

General Zod

Michael Shannon’s General Zod has already had a massive impact on the DCEU, but he will continue to do so in spite of his death at the end of Man of Steel.

His fight with Superman leveled a large chunk of Metropolis and, as a result, a lot of people have turned against the Man of Steel – something that will come to light in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

His corpse is currently believed to be in the possession of Lex Luthor and it is expected that Jesse Eisenberg’s character has plans for it that will rock the DCEU to its very core.

Zod was the first alien threat to present itself in the DCEU and the ramifications of that will be felt for many movies to come.

Lex Luthor

The DCEU’s version of Lex Luthor will be played by Jesse Eisenberg and he will make his first appearance in next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Like most versions of the character, he won’t be physically powerful, but he will be a genius and a master manipulator whose impact on the franchise and the world within it will be huge.

He will orchestrate – or at least influence – the battle between Batman and Superman. Then, once that battle is concluded (probably amicably, incidentally), he will make it his mission to take down the Man of Steel.

However, he will also have a vested interested in superhumans in general, so don’t be surprised to see him putting together teams of supervillains to combat the Kryptonian hero in future.

Doomsday

There are rumours that the corpse of General Zod will be used to create Doomsday and have him appear as early as next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While that probably won’t happen, you can definitely expect the character to appear at least once in the DCEU – and his impact will be massive.

His first appearance will probably have him appear as a pawn – being influenced in some way by the likes of Lex Luthor or Darkseid – and he will attack the Justice League.

They’ll collectively defeat him, but the very nature of the character is that he evolves to become immune to any attacks that had previously harmed him.

Therefore, the likelihood is that his biggest impact will come on his return. It will probably be in a Superman movie, based on the Death of Superman comic book arc, and he will kill the Kryptonian hero. Impacts don’t come much bigger than that.

Darkseid

Although he’s yet to make his presence felt or even be confirmed as turning up in the DCEU, we all know Darkseid will appear eventually – and he will become the big-bad of the franchise, in the same manner as Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

When he first shows up, he will have a huge impact on the fans more than anything else, as he announces his intention – whether it be to take over the Earth, kill every hero on Earth or otherwise – as audible gasps will be heard in theatres around the world.

Then, when he makes his move, his impact will be devastating. He will probably kill off somebody important, resulting in the biggest consequence of all – he might even destroy a planet.

Every single hero remaining in the franchise will have to band together to stop him and his Apokoliptan forces – much like how the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy et al will have to do so in the MCU.

What do you think? Will these be the most impactful villains in the DC Extended Universe? Which other villains could possibly have a bigger impact? Have your say below!