When it comes to setting up a villain worthy of taking on an entire team of superheroes, the Justice League writers chose what many fans consider a “stepping-stone” villain. After all, the name Steppenwolf draws a complete blank for all but the most dedicated comic fans.
While we’re sure the Justice League writers and production team know what they’re doing when it comes to setting Steppenwolf up against a lineup of insanely superpowered beings, we found five villains we wished they had chosen to bring to the big screen instead.
Starro
It seems only fitting that the first threat the Justice League ever faced as a team should make this list. Starro is an alien mind-controlling starfish who could cause some serious chaos. With the ability to create hoards of clones and use the clones to take control of anyone in their path, imagine the problems Earth would face if it took over the bodies of Flash and Wonder Woman and turned them against the planet.
And that’s not all he can do. An ability better known as “terraforming,” Starro can change the environment to suit his needs. And while there are some iterations that are impervious to physical harm, Starro can typically regrow from the most minuscule segment that survives the destruction of the rest of the body.
Parallex
The Justice League isn’t complete without Green Lantern, and what better way to introduce the character to the DCEU than with one of his greatest enemies.
The embodiment of pure fear, Parallax has the ability to inhabit beings of his choosing, and set them on murderous rampages against anyone, as seen in the storyline Emerald Night. Twice the villain, with his immortality and his ability to reshape reality, Parallax would be more than a challenge for the combined Justice League, and a great way to bring Green Lantern into the universe.
Brainiac
The entire 31st-century human race (which is pretty far advanced) only adds up to level 9 on the intellect scale. Brainiac has a “level 12” intellect, which should give you an impression of just how smart he really is.
With this incredible intellect, he has an insane grasp of knowledge over pretty much anything, and in turn, he can create some very advanced weaponry. These weapons include a shield capable of taking Superman’s worst, and a shrink ray that allows him to pocket entire cities. His calculation skills make him more than a formidable foe for even Batman to outwit, and he can absorb information from other beings, making plans to attack him fairly useless.
He has even been shown to have the ability to travel and control space and even time. Oh, and he comes wrapped up with the typical super strength, speed, and durability on the level of Superman. Top that, Steppenwolf.
Imperiex-Prime
Out of all the characters on this list, Imperiex-Prime is probably the most overpowered. With the power of the Big Bang in his fist, he has taken out Doomsday in a single punch and destroys entire galaxies on his quest to restart the universe.
In fact, he is so powerful that it takes a team-up of the most powerful beings in the universe to battle Imperiex, including the entire Justice League, Mongul, Doomsday, and Darkseid. However, in the comic, even this team-up is unable to kill him, and they are forced to send him back in time, letting the Big Bang wipe Imperiex-Prime off the face of the universe.
The fact that Imperiex requires such a team-up is the biggest reason he made this list. It’d take some serious cooperation between the heroes of the DCEU universe to battle, and win against Imperiex-Prime. And it would give us a chance to really see Flash in action, not that we won’t eventually see that.
Nekron
The embodiment of Death itself, Nekron‘s full scope of powers is unknown. The Anti-Monitor had no effect on him, he can raise the dead, and kill beings as powerful as the Guardians with a simple touch. He has taken on universal entities such as the Life Entity and survived, and warp reality as he sees fit. Nekron’s resurrection powers alone would be quite a challenge for the Justice League, especially if Batman and his team had to take on a reborn Superman, or even Doomsday again.
Just like Parallax, Nekron has a connection to the Green Lantern Corps as one of their greatest villains (one of his first appearances was in a Green Lantern comic). To take on Nekron, Green Lantern is a must-need. Pitting Death and his Black Lanterns against the Justice League would be a perfect way to bring Green Lantern into the DCEU.
Despite all these other villains being more powerful than Steppenwolf (and much better options), we have faith that he will be plenty of a match for the Justice League.
Justice League: Part 1 hits theaters on November 17, 2017.
