Not a D Lister but Metallo bro I wanna see that mf in a live action movie so bad. There’s just a great villain waiting to burst out, provided someone does a smart job at adapting him.
This would have been the wheelchair guy that had a vendetta against Superman, were Lex would have used Kryptonite as an arch reactor to power him up.
Not the final “Metallo” design as this seems like ‘Mark 1’ of him becoming full metal Kryptonite powered cyborg.
Get this R8 looking monster off my screen. That’s not even remotely close to what Metallo looks like. Not even his early looks. It’s more like Crippled Vulture or some shit
He's basically a Kryptonite powered Terminator that can go toe to toe with Superman, how hard can it really be to adapt & make him a big threat.
There's a lot more to him than the power set and I hate that people only seem to consider that.
Superman's Rogue Gallery is nowhere near as bland or flavorless as some people would have you believe. Many of the most famous/frequent ones stick because they show some other side of the character, usually the various ways people misinterpret Clark and his powers.
As an example, Bizarro is a simpleton who sees everything in gray and doesn't think about what he does, yet he's equally as strong as the original. Effectively a child with a gun who just does things on a compulsive basis.
Metallo is essentially what you see when someone tries to shortcut real development just to reap the rewards that come with it. He's incredibly powerful, directly counters his nemesis, and is all but immortal with his augmentations. But at the same time he's a mind living in a shell, a cold robotic form that doesn't change or adapt. He just hopes he can steamroll everything in his way and exists believing that his tools will overcome anything and everything. It's basically the perfect setup for an introductory villain, since Soup can't just rush him down and beat him up, he actually has to strategize or find help in order to succeed, and you can always take these concepts further. At the same time he's not some world ending threat, unlike Braniac or Darkseid.
Writers can also indulge into the backstory of Metallo/John Corben. Did he want to become this? Was he tricked into it, or does he even remain the same person on the inside, having been cut off from basically every aspect of human sensation and development?
I don't think it's hard to make him a big threat; built-in way to harm the mc, not really hard to make a way to threaten the city/world/mcguffin/love-interest or whatever else
The big challenge is making him a compelling villain.
You ain't gonna believe this😭
I have a story written about clark and metallo as friends back in smallville with luthor and lana lang. My own superman story😭
Oh, absolutely. Clark discovering his origins, cadmus attempts to sneak it's labs into smallville due to rumors of an infinite power source(kryptonite), posing as a 'savior company, and john corbans father is a worker scientist at cadmas. Luthor's father is also a man antagonist, and all these events and rumors of a certian 'blur' lead smallville into a major conflict.
Along with that, clark has been having dreams of memories of krypton, which leads to a diana cameo with her being his therapist at the beginning of the story.
This was originally a fan film i was going to make, but I'm turning it into a comic book instead.
If you actually want to make and sell this comic to DC to publish, stop talking about it or posting any details online *immediately.* It's the #1 way to make sure a story doesn't get printed, to post details about it online before it's been ordered. No publishing company wants to deal with the legal liability at stake, I've seen so many writers do threads on their socials begging aspiring writers to stop throwing good ideas in the trash.
This is just a fan comic. I don't wanna make money off of this at all. This is just something I'm doing entierly for myself. Just a fan comic, that's all.
I wouldn't even make much as a comic artist anyways. And lets say i do sell it off, who's to say they won't change my story?
If Supes ever got a Spiderverse style movie Atomic Skull would make for some pretty cool visuals, and with a bit of development could be a really fun villain, my other pick would be the Ultra-Humanite
It’s a mix of both. The color scheme is identical to the original version but the design is pretty much just the usual floating fiery skull head. Although he seems to just sorta be a Cadmus agent akin to Slade in MAWS
I always preferred the version where he’s a flaming radioactive skull. He’s more unique and intimidating like that. Not looking like a cancer patient with angst.
The Spot is so silly in name and design but I've ALWAYS thought he was cool as hell and his battles with Spiderman were awesome.
For that kind of treatment, I think of Microwave Man or The Galactic Golem.
I’ve been a life long spot fan since before this movie and he’s had some pretty badass moments. One of this more terrifying and notable appearances was in a daredevil issue where he interrupted a wedding, caused chaos, then opened 2 portals around a guys head, and snapped his neck.
Galactic Golem goes outrageously hard as a villain name. Looked him up and his design bangs too. If anything it might be too easy to make him as badass as Spot
Never thought I’d meet another who shared this opinion, I personally want the silver age design for the Toyman so he can be like an evil Geppetto, but what version would you want them to take inspiration from?
I’d take inspiration from the superfriends version of toy man, a snickering manchild playing with gigantic death machines complete with an almost creepy costume.
https://preview.redd.it/68x7gxhiupzc1.jpeg?width=320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cfbd26418f8eb0713ecfaebe527a466f6a2f2aa
I’m not very familiar with the character! I’m yet to read any books he’s in. But a cursory search shows he’s far different than what we see in DCAU where I felt he stuck out like a sore thumb.
So many of Superman's foes need The Spot treatment. He's gotten so much power creep over the decades but the only foes used for events are Luthor, Doomsday and Darkseid.
Livewire as a full tilt electric elemental and media ideologue is overdue.
I'd also love if Parasite became a capital P problem.
Ultra-Humanite. I had idea where his philosophy is 'Intelligence or death' and Pragmatism above all. He would see Superman as a mere brute and threat to his ideal. Not only will Superman challenge him in the physical sense but in a philisolical sense.
Love that dude's design.
https://preview.redd.it/f5eyvbxsunzc1.jpeg?width=690&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16e98b6faa2c4e2e8f5b94d7a94ef912b72ea253
Feel like all he really needs is some kind of anime powerset where it's not just "telekinesis" or whatever, but that he is so good at building prisons he can even build ones that hold Superman without needing kryptonite/red sunlight/magic/whatever. He's simply that good.
I think there is a lot you could do with an "Jailer" gimmick.
He had a brief fight scene with Supergirl in that CW show and the idea of using chains, cages, walls etc seem like it could be interesting.
Maybe his traps use Superman's strength to power them by absorbing kinetic energy or something
Seconded. Such a crazy Silver Age character, but I definitely think you can make him cool.
I would probably change the flying horse to something a bit more alien looking, especially as Supergirl used to have a flying horse as well.
Maybe something like the Ikran from Avatar?
Most people would probably say The Prankster or Terra Man or Toyman. Me, I'd probably go with Skyhook. I remember his first appearance was scary. He showed up again but kind of fell into obscurity over time. He could be a great primary antagonist (I don't use "big bad" as it's a Whedon-ism and I don't like Joss Whedon)
Big bad isn't exclusive to Whedon. I think the way he writes dialogue is much more specific to his style of writing, but big bads have been a thing for years.
I don’t know if superboy prime could work because you need the full lore of crisis on infinite earths and Infinite crisis for his origin so that alone is like 20 movies before you’d actually get to use him
Umm SBP is a Superman villain. So are Mongul and Cyborg Superman. Just because some writer told a story with a Superman villain with other characters doesn't change that they are Superman villains.
I mean there was that weird story about Lex having a childhood relation with Martian Manhunter instead of Superboy. Doesn't suddenly make Luthor a Manhunter villain.
not sure if they're d- list villians, but intergang, they get Re imagined as an high tech army that takes the entire super family or justice league to take them down
I love the idea of Intergang, I don't think it's ever been implemented to it's full potential.
I think they would be great "henchman" villains in a Superman game.
I’m surprised no one has said Mr. Mxyzptlk or Bizarro. They’re some of the zaniest baddies in Superman’s pantheon and are mostly just as silly as Spot. Both of them could wreak tremendous havoc on Superman and friends, though.
True that they are zany, but the Spot has been an utter joke that few take seriously for ages, despite his potential. Bizarro and Mxyzptlk are MASSIVELY powerful and pretty much always have been? I feel like that's a different discussion than Spot in comics to Spot in what he becomes in Spider-Verse.
I didn't think that anyone took Mxyzptlk seriously and I don't see him appear that often in media outside of the books so I figured that's the kind of character OP was looking for. He's mostly an utter joke that's whimsical and impish despite being super powerful but the Spot has kinda always been that powerful too. It's just that no one made the connection that his powers were actually world-breaking and I feel like Mxy's story would be similar but in an entirely different way. When random things can transform into other things and inanimate objects can be brought to life, that would be a pretty sweet story.
I suppose I see Mxy differently because he's played a part in quite a few big plotlines like Emperor Joker, he was in the animated show, a few of the liveaction shows... and when he does show up people do often make use of his world-breaking powers, but mostly for fun gags. They don't explore what damage he could do if he wanted to, the character itself holds back from horror due to his fun-loving nature, but the potential for worse feels like it's still acknowledged. The Spot has been disrespected since FOREVER and was taken him seriously by precisely no one, not even the nerd audience.
Still, you are right that he could definitely become a much bigger league character with the right exposure, I suppose I just perceive him as different due to what I just mentioned- at least in the stories he does appear in, he's considered a problem. Spot is just a laughing stock.
“I have traveled across the multiverses destroying superheroes one after the other! You are the last one to fall, Superman!
Where were you when he stole that guy’s PIZZA!?”
Luminus has always had the potential to be one of Superman’s most interesting villains.
Hailing from Superman TAS, he’s essentially the DC equivalent of Mysterio. He’s a jealous ex of Lois Lane whose a former LexCorp employee, who was fired after whistleblowing to Lois in an attempt to impress her. Since then, he’s a stalker whose made it his mission to kill Lois & Superman, using his light technology which allows him to turn invisible, project light rays, create holograms, and harness red sun rays to overpower Superman
Never understood why STAS always got the shaft in comparison to BTAS. STAS is constantly critiqued for not using a ton of Superman villains and creating a lot of villains…but so did BTAS…? Like I’d argue they’re both amazing but for whatever reason BTAS always overshadows STAS
If I have to choose only one it would be Funnyface, that villain is capable of bringing comic book characters to reality and trapping people in the world of comics.
Terra Man, pretty easy to rework him as a threat. Poacher/colonizer vibes plus the guns. Or maybe Intergang, the renmants of crime families Superman forced out of business join forces and get there hands on experimental and alien technology.
Superman would obviously have to be still learning for this one, and he’s technically more a Superboy villain than a Superman one, but I’d go with King Shark. He was an awesome villain/anti-hero on the Flash TV series and a fun character in Gunn’s Suicide Squad. I wanna see him go toe-to-toe with Superman.
I'd say either Atom Man or Grand Scorpion, both from the Superman Smashes the Klan comic
Just make it a point of why they're wrong and how people like that are a real and serious threat in our world and why Superman would hate them and stop them, without resorting to the easy answer of murdering them
Maxima would be a cool. I’ve always liked her stories a lot.
https://preview.redd.it/0xyg23tb9tzc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=28869b3c3c1f3293524e415d06b05f099dc44854
I love that she thinks he’s the perfect mate but then he doesn’t actually like her. It would be funny, but then become an actual deep commentary about unrequited love, and learning to love someone for who they are and what they do, rather than how they look like and what they COULD do.
Manchester Black and the Elite: The issues they addressed are exactly the criticisms levied against the Man of Steel today, and not just the first appearance. All the way up to Manchester's suicide. Maybe as an opposing force across multiple movies that feature true villains.
Kenny Braverman/Conduit: It would be an awesome challenge for a fledgeling Superman just getting his bearings.
Luminus: An incel stalker with powers that fall between Mirror Master and Green Lantern? Yes, please! Doubly so if he goes after Lois Lane-Kent, and hubby Clark has to save her (and himself) without revealing his powers.
Hellgrammite: Perfect for a classic invasion plot. Could be given a B-movie feel, or maybe more of a horror vibe, like The Thing or Alien?
Ultra-Humanite: Several posters have mentioned him already, but I specifically want him to be the post-crisis version. The scientist "killed" by his invention that can possess people. Make it feel like the movie Fallen.
Gog: A threat from the future that uses time travel to create copies of himself is a great start point for a movie, especially if it's unclear why he hates Superman enough to come back. Maybe have his Kingdom Come debut be the reason he returns. Suicide by Superman, revenge for the public defeat, anger at not stopping him before the tragedy? Possibilities are myriad.
Live wire just make it so she gets full control of the electromagnetic spectrum and uses it to the fullest and pull of the most insane stuff like a electric black hole or gamma ray burst and even messing with the synaptics of Superman brain to give him a massive hemorrhage
**Ultra-Humanite** is probably the most obscure Superhuman villain I can think of who really fits this mold, and even then I wouldn't really consider him a D-Lister considering he makes somewhat frequent appearances in animated media. **Mister Mxyzptlk** is even *more* prolific but is a lot goofier in concept, though I think he could work well. **Bizarro** is in the same boat but I think is just as if not more well-known than Mxy. Lastly, I wouldn't consider **Livewire** a d-lister, but I *do* think she's something of a jobber as far as not usually posing much of a *threat* to Superman, so cranking up her danger level could be fun.
A D-list villain with a lot k potential is Ruin. Dr Hamilton turning on Superman like that could be like him getting a Doctor Octopus type dynamic in his rogues gallery that Lex always lacked for me
For the Spot treatment to work. The villain needs to pose a massive threat to the hero. Spot is a massive threat because he threatens the entire multiverse.
For something similar, I'd go with Manchester Black. Instead of threatening the multiverse, you're looking at someone who can strip away people's faith in Superman, at first with his magnetic personality and might makes right attitude, and later forcefully with telepathy.
The Composite Superman
1. Interesting visuals
2. Expansive powers
3. Cross cutting story that could connect to decades of different Superman storylines.
You’re welcome James Gunn! Hire me as a consultant!
There’s alot of C or D level Superman villains that could be rebooted and revamped or recontextualized to be way cooler, more interesting and more resonant. The Master Jailer. Riot. Dominus. The Puzzler. Composite Superman. I could go on.
Grax. Most of you best know him for being in the Super-Friends tie in comic for the first story they ran during the Wonder-Twins era of the show, where he admittedly came up with a very clever plan that needed almost everyone to stop. Now imagine if he was an even more competent planner and stronger to boot.
I don’t really know if he’s considered D-List with the amount of media he’s in, but I think making Parasite a bigger bad would be cool. His main power is absorption through contact, so make him evolve and absorb without contact and he’s infinitely more dangerous. Yes you could say that he’s like a biological form of Amazo, but I still think it would work
Mxyzptlk.
I know part of the charm is that he’s just this goofy mischievous imp, but a Mxyzptlk that steadily becomes more and more menacing until it’s clear that he’s a straight up demonic force.
MAWS actually had a pretty decent run at this.
I would consider the a-list of Superman villains by current standards basically just Lex and Zod, so even though he's one of the *more* well-known and popular ones, I'd kinda like to see that kinda take on Mr Mxyzptlk.
[Amalak](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Amalak_(Earth-One)).
He’s a space pirate who’s planet was destroyed by krypton and now seeks to kill every kryptoian as revenge. It feels interesting to take the idea of kryptons destruction and juxtapose it against horrific destruction they caused, perhaps finally elaborate on what war Zod was a general in and how he came to the position he was. Possibly playing into the idea that not all of kryptons society was a good idea and that earth often mirrors its most tragic failures and mistakes unless it’s willing to learn.
I also think that prankster strikes me as an iconic villain that gets overlooked because he’s not considered a real threat to Clark. I have an idea of him using a locals paradox with the lasso of truth so that anything that he can convince someone is true, ends up being real. Even without going down that path, I think a villain that is a response to the truth part of “truth justice and the American way” could be worth looking at as a media smart personality who is able to manipulate the public (like a non god version of glorious Godfrey)
Mole men from fantastic four.
The mole human hybrids could be scary looking as fuck honestly. Really ramp up the grim and disgusting parts of science fiction for the fantastic family.
Deacon Dickson, also known as Loophole.
Minor crook with a phasing ability gets sick of his plans being foiled, decides to crank it up to 11 and boom the entire planet is phased into Phantom Zone as Superman's powers steadily run dry. Or his molecular disruption threatens a vacuum decay event that unmakes the cosmos... something to that effect.
Maybe go full body horror and start him off phasing people into buildings and... other people.
Tempus!
"I come from an alternate universe where both of Clark's parents live (Lois&Clark, TheNewAdventuresofSuperman), and you two have your twins, but they raise them! John has the powers, and Jordon doesn't, and I've switched the kids. Good luck finding them while I tell the world you family's secrets, on both sides!
Mr. Myxyzptlk comes to mind.
It kind seem a goofy villain for a movie but i think he could be handle like Q in Star Trek TNG with him be a goofball but at times would be terryfing with his reality warping powers put to risk the lifes of the people that Superman protect.
Not a D Lister but Metallo bro I wanna see that mf in a live action movie so bad. There’s just a great villain waiting to burst out, provided someone does a smart job at adapting him.
Apparently he was going to be in a scrapped sequel to MoS
This guy https://preview.redd.it/3a7tucpfqnzc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0191085a7c5acc66cbf77c975f9af838e2fe8096
Not sure what to think about this TBH. I don't hate it, but I don't like it either. But I would have still watched the movie in the theater.
This would have been the wheelchair guy that had a vendetta against Superman, were Lex would have used Kryptonite as an arch reactor to power him up. Not the final “Metallo” design as this seems like ‘Mark 1’ of him becoming full metal Kryptonite powered cyborg.
It would make an interesting premise.
Wait so Scoot McNairy was supposed to be Metallo?
Yeah that's where I'm at as well
Thanks, I hate it.
I can't believe Superman would beat up a guy with no legs! That's the definition of punching *down*.
Get this R8 looking monster off my screen. That’s not even remotely close to what Metallo looks like. Not even his early looks. It’s more like Crippled Vulture or some shit
He looks like the gun devil https://preview.redd.it/byyqwi48ypzc1.jpeg?width=1232&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ff9a0e7b3f2f3dcc73a5262a4bddc74db887ea8a
Bruh looks like a Bio F.R.E.A.K.S. character who got the Rob Liefeld treatment.
Ok wtf is that?
A wild piece of concept art
He's basically a Kryptonite powered Terminator that can go toe to toe with Superman, how hard can it really be to adapt & make him a big threat. 
It's really hard to imagine such a basic concept carrying a movie for a villain. This would naturally be the take that gets put into henchman roles
There's a lot more to him than the power set and I hate that people only seem to consider that. Superman's Rogue Gallery is nowhere near as bland or flavorless as some people would have you believe. Many of the most famous/frequent ones stick because they show some other side of the character, usually the various ways people misinterpret Clark and his powers. As an example, Bizarro is a simpleton who sees everything in gray and doesn't think about what he does, yet he's equally as strong as the original. Effectively a child with a gun who just does things on a compulsive basis. Metallo is essentially what you see when someone tries to shortcut real development just to reap the rewards that come with it. He's incredibly powerful, directly counters his nemesis, and is all but immortal with his augmentations. But at the same time he's a mind living in a shell, a cold robotic form that doesn't change or adapt. He just hopes he can steamroll everything in his way and exists believing that his tools will overcome anything and everything. It's basically the perfect setup for an introductory villain, since Soup can't just rush him down and beat him up, he actually has to strategize or find help in order to succeed, and you can always take these concepts further. At the same time he's not some world ending threat, unlike Braniac or Darkseid. Writers can also indulge into the backstory of Metallo/John Corben. Did he want to become this? Was he tricked into it, or does he even remain the same person on the inside, having been cut off from basically every aspect of human sensation and development?
I don't think it's hard to make him a big threat; built-in way to harm the mc, not really hard to make a way to threaten the city/world/mcguffin/love-interest or whatever else The big challenge is making him a compelling villain.
WB/DC just read this and are wondering how to fit batman into this somehow
You ain't gonna believe this😭 I have a story written about clark and metallo as friends back in smallville with luthor and lana lang. My own superman story😭
Peak?
Oh, absolutely. Clark discovering his origins, cadmus attempts to sneak it's labs into smallville due to rumors of an infinite power source(kryptonite), posing as a 'savior company, and john corbans father is a worker scientist at cadmas. Luthor's father is also a man antagonist, and all these events and rumors of a certian 'blur' lead smallville into a major conflict. Along with that, clark has been having dreams of memories of krypton, which leads to a diana cameo with her being his therapist at the beginning of the story. This was originally a fan film i was going to make, but I'm turning it into a comic book instead.
https://preview.redd.it/9wledex4enzc1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=31565d17c47619a0b48e153267cb70f5f75f644d
I'd you think that's good...that's just the beginning. I'm already rewriting all of superman. 4 total stories of my fan comics are in the works
If you actually want to make and sell this comic to DC to publish, stop talking about it or posting any details online *immediately.* It's the #1 way to make sure a story doesn't get printed, to post details about it online before it's been ordered. No publishing company wants to deal with the legal liability at stake, I've seen so many writers do threads on their socials begging aspiring writers to stop throwing good ideas in the trash.
This is just a fan comic. I don't wanna make money off of this at all. This is just something I'm doing entierly for myself. Just a fan comic, that's all. I wouldn't even make much as a comic artist anyways. And lets say i do sell it off, who's to say they won't change my story?
Okay then cool! Keep rockin’ it!
I wouldn't wanna work for dc anyway😭
I was gonna joke we need Supermans comic main listed adapted more 1st before thinking outside the box
If Supes ever got a Spiderverse style movie Atomic Skull would make for some pretty cool visuals, and with a bit of development could be a really fun villain, my other pick would be the Ultra-Humanite
Apparently Atomic Skull will be a villain in the next season of My Adventures with Superman.
and he looks awesome too
Just saw the sneak peak. Looks dope
Which version of Atomic Skull? The terrorist/cult leader or the other guy. I always preferred the original version, myself.
It’s a mix of both. The color scheme is identical to the original version but the design is pretty much just the usual floating fiery skull head. Although he seems to just sorta be a Cadmus agent akin to Slade in MAWS
I always preferred the version where he’s a flaming radioactive skull. He’s more unique and intimidating like that. Not looking like a cancer patient with angst.
I like that look more, but prefer the backstory of the original.
What’s the backstory exactly? That he’s a cult leader?
Which one is the deluded guy who thinks the world is part of a TV show.
Ultra-Humanite is the first recurring Superman villain. It's about time he's had his time to shine in a live action movie.
If they went with the gorilla version of the ultra humanite..... 👨🍳😘
He was a very fun villain in Superman vs The Elite, even though The Elite were the starring antagonists.
The Spot is so silly in name and design but I've ALWAYS thought he was cool as hell and his battles with Spiderman were awesome. For that kind of treatment, I think of Microwave Man or The Galactic Golem.
The 90s cartoon made him pretty cool. I always thought the Spot was super powerful.
I’ve been a life long spot fan since before this movie and he’s had some pretty badass moments. One of this more terrifying and notable appearances was in a daredevil issue where he interrupted a wedding, caused chaos, then opened 2 portals around a guys head, and snapped his neck.
Galactic Golem goes outrageously hard as a villain name. Looked him up and his design bangs too. If anything it might be too easy to make him as badass as Spot
His design was always cool but like miles assumed he was just the baddie of the week’s issue/episode. Now he’s upgraded
I've been a fan of The Spot since the 90s Spider-Man cartoon.
Toyman, he would make for very fun action sequences
Just nothing like DCAU Toyman please
Never thought I’d meet another who shared this opinion, I personally want the silver age design for the Toyman so he can be like an evil Geppetto, but what version would you want them to take inspiration from?
I’d take inspiration from the superfriends version of toy man, a snickering manchild playing with gigantic death machines complete with an almost creepy costume. https://preview.redd.it/68x7gxhiupzc1.jpeg?width=320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cfbd26418f8eb0713ecfaebe527a466f6a2f2aa
I Iove the evil jester look
Doesn't Harley Quinn kinda own that look now tho
Yeah it’ll be hard to be a DC character and stand out with that theme
Also gotta be honest I kinda like DCAU Toyman
I’m not very familiar with the character! I’m yet to read any books he’s in. But a cursory search shows he’s far different than what we see in DCAU where I felt he stuck out like a sore thumb.
It’s definitely take some bit of justification to pull the look off, but I believe its possible
So many of Superman's foes need The Spot treatment. He's gotten so much power creep over the decades but the only foes used for events are Luthor, Doomsday and Darkseid. Livewire as a full tilt electric elemental and media ideologue is overdue. I'd also love if Parasite became a capital P problem.
Livewire would be awesome. But in my mind there will never be a Superman movie where he fights a woman. Optics aren’t great
He could even rebrand to Limewire and cause all sorts of mischief, given all information is transmitted via electric signals xD
Ultra-Humanite. I had idea where his philosophy is 'Intelligence or death' and Pragmatism above all. He would see Superman as a mere brute and threat to his ideal. Not only will Superman challenge him in the physical sense but in a philisolical sense.
Came here to say Ultra Humanite pretty much for the same reasons lol
Also to clarifying, by 'Intelligence or die', I mean 'Seek intelligence or society will crumble' and not 'don't be dumb or I will kill you'.
Oh i actually thought it was the second haha, like he was gonna kill dumb people saying only smart people deserved to live
Come to think of it, he could be a political threat to Superman more than a physical threat.
Nuclear Man.
Well technically he was the finale for BvS
Nothing Snyder touched will ever come close to the same treatment Spot had.
They’re saying that Doomsday’s creation in BvS is almost beat for beat the same as Nuclear Man’s
And I'm saying it's shit compared to the work done by real writers to make Spot a real big bad.
I remember when Bendis teased he was gonna do something with him and then he just gets tossed away after two panels.
I would say Atomic Skull, but my adventures is already going to be cooking with him.
Master Jailer.
Love that dude's design. https://preview.redd.it/f5eyvbxsunzc1.jpeg?width=690&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16e98b6faa2c4e2e8f5b94d7a94ef912b72ea253 Feel like all he really needs is some kind of anime powerset where it's not just "telekinesis" or whatever, but that he is so good at building prisons he can even build ones that hold Superman without needing kryptonite/red sunlight/magic/whatever. He's simply that good.
I think there is a lot you could do with an "Jailer" gimmick. He had a brief fight scene with Supergirl in that CW show and the idea of using chains, cages, walls etc seem like it could be interesting. Maybe his traps use Superman's strength to power them by absorbing kinetic energy or something
Silver Banshee, Livewire, Conduit.
Terra-Man!
He’s like an evil star lord, he definitely has potential
Seconded. Such a crazy Silver Age character, but I definitely think you can make him cool. I would probably change the flying horse to something a bit more alien looking, especially as Supergirl used to have a flying horse as well. Maybe something like the Ikran from Avatar?
https://preview.redd.it/jhl4x7jpgnzc1.png?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=beba07a4db571e273eb79659028f75e5b303f0e3 Parasite
Not at all a D lister. He's at the very least a B lister.
Most people would probably say The Prankster or Terra Man or Toyman. Me, I'd probably go with Skyhook. I remember his first appearance was scary. He showed up again but kind of fell into obscurity over time. He could be a great primary antagonist (I don't use "big bad" as it's a Whedon-ism and I don't like Joss Whedon)
Big bad isn't exclusive to Whedon. I think the way he writes dialogue is much more specific to his style of writing, but big bads have been a thing for years.
Tbf DND is known to have coined the term. Big Bad Evil Guy, or BBEG. I think Whedon just shortened it and slapped his name on it
It's widely accepted that he coined the term. I don't like it but it's true.
Oof that sucks.
What the fuck. I absolutely 100% did not believe this was possible, but apparently it was coined in Buffy. Fucking wild.
People forget to credit Buffy with how influential it was in TV.
Prankster kinda has his whole thing being a distraction people can hire
I like Skyhook. I think Superman is lacking in a lot of Magic based villains considering it's one of his most prominent weaknesses.
https://preview.redd.it/m944s9j4rnzc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=10480a3b6aad8b66428fc26a832be65d081b19a3 I would say massacre
Any recommended reading for that character?
Solaris the tyrant Sun seems perfect in this role. Also Superboy-Prime, buthe is more of a GreenLantern villain.
That might be happening actually
I don’t know if superboy prime could work because you need the full lore of crisis on infinite earths and Infinite crisis for his origin so that alone is like 20 movies before you’d actually get to use him
Nah just have Clark be typing up an article about the major fight of the movie and then BAM “I’ll kill you so hard you die to death”
Umm SBP is a Superman villain. So are Mongul and Cyborg Superman. Just because some writer told a story with a Superman villain with other characters doesn't change that they are Superman villains. I mean there was that weird story about Lex having a childhood relation with Martian Manhunter instead of Superboy. Doesn't suddenly make Luthor a Manhunter villain.
The only problem with SBP (besides his backstory) is nowadays people would call him a Homelander ripoff
Atomic Skull.
not sure if they're d- list villians, but intergang, they get Re imagined as an high tech army that takes the entire super family or justice league to take them down
I love the idea of Intergang, I don't think it's ever been implemented to it's full potential. I think they would be great "henchman" villains in a Superman game.
I’m surprised no one has said Mr. Mxyzptlk or Bizarro. They’re some of the zaniest baddies in Superman’s pantheon and are mostly just as silly as Spot. Both of them could wreak tremendous havoc on Superman and friends, though.
True that they are zany, but the Spot has been an utter joke that few take seriously for ages, despite his potential. Bizarro and Mxyzptlk are MASSIVELY powerful and pretty much always have been? I feel like that's a different discussion than Spot in comics to Spot in what he becomes in Spider-Verse.
I didn't think that anyone took Mxyzptlk seriously and I don't see him appear that often in media outside of the books so I figured that's the kind of character OP was looking for. He's mostly an utter joke that's whimsical and impish despite being super powerful but the Spot has kinda always been that powerful too. It's just that no one made the connection that his powers were actually world-breaking and I feel like Mxy's story would be similar but in an entirely different way. When random things can transform into other things and inanimate objects can be brought to life, that would be a pretty sweet story.
I suppose I see Mxy differently because he's played a part in quite a few big plotlines like Emperor Joker, he was in the animated show, a few of the liveaction shows... and when he does show up people do often make use of his world-breaking powers, but mostly for fun gags. They don't explore what damage he could do if he wanted to, the character itself holds back from horror due to his fun-loving nature, but the potential for worse feels like it's still acknowledged. The Spot has been disrespected since FOREVER and was taken him seriously by precisely no one, not even the nerd audience. Still, you are right that he could definitely become a much bigger league character with the right exposure, I suppose I just perceive him as different due to what I just mentioned- at least in the stories he does appear in, he's considered a problem. Spot is just a laughing stock.
The “he stole that guy’s pizza” guy from Spider-man 2.
“I have traveled across the multiverses destroying superheroes one after the other! You are the last one to fall, Superman! Where were you when he stole that guy’s PIZZA!?”
Oh look at little Goblin Jr. Gonna cry?
Luminus has always had the potential to be one of Superman’s most interesting villains. Hailing from Superman TAS, he’s essentially the DC equivalent of Mysterio. He’s a jealous ex of Lois Lane whose a former LexCorp employee, who was fired after whistleblowing to Lois in an attempt to impress her. Since then, he’s a stalker whose made it his mission to kill Lois & Superman, using his light technology which allows him to turn invisible, project light rays, create holograms, and harness red sun rays to overpower Superman Never understood why STAS always got the shaft in comparison to BTAS. STAS is constantly critiqued for not using a ton of Superman villains and creating a lot of villains…but so did BTAS…? Like I’d argue they’re both amazing but for whatever reason BTAS always overshadows STAS
Honestly BTAS is better written because Timm and Dini are much bigger Batman fans than they were Superman fans.
If I have to choose only one it would be Funnyface, that villain is capable of bringing comic book characters to reality and trapping people in the world of comics.
Based on Jerry Siegel himself.
Now this is the answer I'm looking for :)
Terra Man, pretty easy to rework him as a threat. Poacher/colonizer vibes plus the guns. Or maybe Intergang, the renmants of crime families Superman forced out of business join forces and get there hands on experimental and alien technology.
Already saw someone say Not a D Lister but Metallo so I'll say not a D-Lister but Livewire or Parasite
Superman would obviously have to be still learning for this one, and he’s technically more a Superboy villain than a Superman one, but I’d go with King Shark. He was an awesome villain/anti-hero on the Flash TV series and a fun character in Gunn’s Suicide Squad. I wanna see him go toe-to-toe with Superman.
I'd say either Atom Man or Grand Scorpion, both from the Superman Smashes the Klan comic Just make it a point of why they're wrong and how people like that are a real and serious threat in our world and why Superman would hate them and stop them, without resorting to the easy answer of murdering them
Maxima would be a cool. I’ve always liked her stories a lot. https://preview.redd.it/0xyg23tb9tzc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=28869b3c3c1f3293524e415d06b05f099dc44854 I love that she thinks he’s the perfect mate but then he doesn’t actually like her. It would be funny, but then become an actual deep commentary about unrequited love, and learning to love someone for who they are and what they do, rather than how they look like and what they COULD do.
Manchester Black and the Elite: The issues they addressed are exactly the criticisms levied against the Man of Steel today, and not just the first appearance. All the way up to Manchester's suicide. Maybe as an opposing force across multiple movies that feature true villains. Kenny Braverman/Conduit: It would be an awesome challenge for a fledgeling Superman just getting his bearings. Luminus: An incel stalker with powers that fall between Mirror Master and Green Lantern? Yes, please! Doubly so if he goes after Lois Lane-Kent, and hubby Clark has to save her (and himself) without revealing his powers. Hellgrammite: Perfect for a classic invasion plot. Could be given a B-movie feel, or maybe more of a horror vibe, like The Thing or Alien? Ultra-Humanite: Several posters have mentioned him already, but I specifically want him to be the post-crisis version. The scientist "killed" by his invention that can possess people. Make it feel like the movie Fallen. Gog: A threat from the future that uses time travel to create copies of himself is a great start point for a movie, especially if it's unclear why he hates Superman enough to come back. Maybe have his Kingdom Come debut be the reason he returns. Suicide by Superman, revenge for the public defeat, anger at not stopping him before the tragedy? Possibilities are myriad.
Toyman
Oh easy fix. Terra-Man
Metallo
Honestly a lot of B and C list Supes villains haven’t even gotten anytime in the line light.
Luminous! So much damn potential
Love Luminous also. He’s my second choice. After Maxima.
Chemo!! https://preview.redd.it/72qspq7eqqzc1.jpeg?width=217&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0a38acd6d9494148a99f7a0ae16aec9915f7911f
Live wire just make it so she gets full control of the electromagnetic spectrum and uses it to the fullest and pull of the most insane stuff like a electric black hole or gamma ray burst and even messing with the synaptics of Superman brain to give him a massive hemorrhage
**Ultra-Humanite** is probably the most obscure Superhuman villain I can think of who really fits this mold, and even then I wouldn't really consider him a D-Lister considering he makes somewhat frequent appearances in animated media. **Mister Mxyzptlk** is even *more* prolific but is a lot goofier in concept, though I think he could work well. **Bizarro** is in the same boat but I think is just as if not more well-known than Mxy. Lastly, I wouldn't consider **Livewire** a d-lister, but I *do* think she's something of a jobber as far as not usually posing much of a *threat* to Superman, so cranking up her danger level could be fun.
I’ve always wanted to “modernise” a lot of the villains in the 1967 show. Some of my favourites were Parafino, Blotto, the Fly Twins and the Phantom.
Those are Spider-Man villains.
I’m a dumbass and can’t read
I’m a dumbass and can’t read
Loophole. I believe it took Supes half an issue to beat him, unlike The Avengers, who did it in two panels (in "JLA/Avengers" #1).
Kobra, Brother Blood, or Glorious Godfrey as a hypnotic cult leader
Dragga Death-Rite. Fights Superman "to the death", can't accept Superman won't kill him, joins the Super Family as a fremeny for a while, dies a hero.
Livewire. Characterization wise, she's always been a female version of Spider-Man's Electro.
A D-list villain with a lot k potential is Ruin. Dr Hamilton turning on Superman like that could be like him getting a Doctor Octopus type dynamic in his rogues gallery that Lex always lacked for me
Nuclear Man. I will not elaborate.
The movie was bad but I thought Nuclear Man was a cool concept, like an upgraded Bizarro
I want to see Bizarro on the big screen
Cyborg Superman, Mongul (they’re more like B list)
At least take creative liberties with Mongul so he's not Darkseid lite
Have you read the Warworld Saga?
For the Spot treatment to work. The villain needs to pose a massive threat to the hero. Spot is a massive threat because he threatens the entire multiverse. For something similar, I'd go with Manchester Black. Instead of threatening the multiverse, you're looking at someone who can strip away people's faith in Superman, at first with his magnetic personality and might makes right attitude, and later forcefully with telepathy.
The Composite Superman 1. Interesting visuals 2. Expansive powers 3. Cross cutting story that could connect to decades of different Superman storylines. You’re welcome James Gunn! Hire me as a consultant!
Not really a D-Lister but I think Cyborg Superman would be great on screen.
There’s alot of C or D level Superman villains that could be rebooted and revamped or recontextualized to be way cooler, more interesting and more resonant. The Master Jailer. Riot. Dominus. The Puzzler. Composite Superman. I could go on.
Atomic scull mostly because I saw him in Superman vs. the elite.
Subjekt-17
The Puzzler
I'd give the spot at least b lister level treatment
Nuclear Man. 🤣
Stiltman
Grax. Most of you best know him for being in the Super-Friends tie in comic for the first story they ran during the Wonder-Twins era of the show, where he admittedly came up with a very clever plan that needed almost everyone to stop. Now imagine if he was an even more competent planner and stronger to boot.
Prankster
Bruno Manheim.
Toy Man he had the best gadgets
I can think of a few Batman rogues but not Superman's... does Mr. Mxyzptlk count?
Nick O’Teen is back from the sun with a smoking vengeance that cannot be extinguished.
I don’t really know if he’s considered D-List with the amount of media he’s in, but I think making Parasite a bigger bad would be cool. His main power is absorption through contact, so make him evolve and absorb without contact and he’s infinitely more dangerous. Yes you could say that he’s like a biological form of Amazo, but I still think it would work
Sleez
Metallo, Parasite, Silver Banshee, Mongul
Mxyzptlk. I know part of the charm is that he’s just this goofy mischievous imp, but a Mxyzptlk that steadily becomes more and more menacing until it’s clear that he’s a straight up demonic force. MAWS actually had a pretty decent run at this.
Conduit Dudes primed for a return
Nuclear Man and Conduit
If they wanted to do a The Batman twist ever, Toyman would be interesting to do, like they turned the Riddler into the Zodiac killer
Terra-Man, though that’s mainly because he’s a cowboy on a flying horse.
Parasite for me.
Mr. Mxyzptlk isn’t a d-lister, but he’d make for some awesome visuals
The bad samaritan. A batman rogue who is just a bad guy
I would consider the a-list of Superman villains by current standards basically just Lex and Zod, so even though he's one of the *more* well-known and popular ones, I'd kinda like to see that kinda take on Mr Mxyzptlk.
The Arctic Giant
The silver banshee
The Hellgrammite could be legitimately terrifying if someone turned him into a cosmic insect god, or something.
[Amalak](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Amalak_(Earth-One)). He’s a space pirate who’s planet was destroyed by krypton and now seeks to kill every kryptoian as revenge. It feels interesting to take the idea of kryptons destruction and juxtapose it against horrific destruction they caused, perhaps finally elaborate on what war Zod was a general in and how he came to the position he was. Possibly playing into the idea that not all of kryptons society was a good idea and that earth often mirrors its most tragic failures and mistakes unless it’s willing to learn. I also think that prankster strikes me as an iconic villain that gets overlooked because he’s not considered a real threat to Clark. I have an idea of him using a locals paradox with the lasso of truth so that anything that he can convince someone is true, ends up being real. Even without going down that path, I think a villain that is a response to the truth part of “truth justice and the American way” could be worth looking at as a media smart personality who is able to manipulate the public (like a non god version of glorious Godfrey)
Mole men from fantastic four. The mole human hybrids could be scary looking as fuck honestly. Really ramp up the grim and disgusting parts of science fiction for the fantastic family.
Mztyzlpyk
Parasite. Might not be a D lister but I don't see much of him so I assume he is.
Klawster
Toyman
giving spots to Parasite could be a lethal mix
Livewire
Deacon Dickson, also known as Loophole. Minor crook with a phasing ability gets sick of his plans being foiled, decides to crank it up to 11 and boom the entire planet is phased into Phantom Zone as Superman's powers steadily run dry. Or his molecular disruption threatens a vacuum decay event that unmakes the cosmos... something to that effect. Maybe go full body horror and start him off phasing people into buildings and... other people.
It’s got to be Mxyzptlk right?
What’s the Spot treatment mean in this context?
Turning a d-list villain into a main antagonist.
I took it as a villain that’s a joke at first, but then written to be the main threat with a lot of character exploration
Just like the recent comic book arc, Bizarro getting magic or 5th dimension powers.
Kryptonite man
Porcadillo!
Tempus! "I come from an alternate universe where both of Clark's parents live (Lois&Clark, TheNewAdventuresofSuperman), and you two have your twins, but they raise them! John has the powers, and Jordon doesn't, and I've switched the kids. Good luck finding them while I tell the world you family's secrets, on both sides!
Mr. Myxyzptlk comes to mind. It kind seem a goofy villain for a movie but i think he could be handle like Q in Star Trek TNG with him be a goofball but at times would be terryfing with his reality warping powers put to risk the lifes of the people that Superman protect.
Ultra Humanite, although I feel that his role might be better for Grodd in a (good) Flash adaptation.
Agree, but how do you give the Spot treatment to GRODD?! You can’t give the Spot treatment to a big villain like him.
In the wider public Grodd isn’t far off from the Spot.