10 Villains Better For Ben Affleck’s Solo Batman Movie

Update: Since publishing, Joe Manganiello has been confirmed to be playing Deathstroke in Ben Affleck's Batman movie, although whether he'll be in Justice League too remains unconfirmed (but likely). The rest of the article remains unchanged.

The DC Extended Universe hasn't exactly worked out too well so far. Whatever side of the fence you sit on, there's no denying the poor critical response and less-than-expected box office grosses for the likes of Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, and with each film it's harder to be excited for the next one.

Wonder Woman looks great, for example, but then so too did Suicide Squad. Justice League had a pretty good teaser at Comic-Con, but it's still a movie being directed by Zack Snyder.

In the midst of all that, however, is one shining beacon of hope. A bat-signal of hope, if you like. Ben Affleck's Batman is a saving grace of the DCEU, and thankfully he's getting his own solo outing, and better yet one he's also directing, and co-writing with Geoff Johns.

Given his great talent behind the camera, and performance as Bruce Wayne/Bats, there's every reason to be excited for this one, and understandably there's been a lot of chatter about who the villain might be. Now reports are suggesting Deathstroke will be the primary antagonist, with the villain set to appear first in Justice League.

Deathstroke can be an awesome character, evidenced in live-action on Arrow. But for Affleck's solo Batman movie, the first post-Nolan, which may well have lots of villains, is he Big Bad material? Probably not. He's not a huge Batman villain in the way some others are, and while he'd make an excellent secondary or tertiary foe, it's difficult to imagine him holding together a two-and-a-half hour movie, and Warner Bros. would be better off looking at some of these guys instead.

The DCEU - heck, comic book movies in general (or even just movies, really) - could do with introducing a strong female villain (well, just a few more strong females (and indeed villains) in general would be a start, but why not start here). They tried and failed with Enchantress in Suicide Squad, but that doesn't mean they should give up, because there's one from Batman's rogues gallery ripe for a new adaptation.

For the wider moviegoing audience, Poison Ivy is most remembered for whatever the hell Uma Thurman was playing in Batman & Robin, which is a huge shame.

With the big budget likely to be behind Batfleck's film, there's a chance to really do justice to Ivy's powers in terms of special effects, and the sight of her taking over Gotham is something that could look really impressive on screen if done right. You could even make the argument that her motivations, wanting to protect nature, are particularly relevant today, even if she goes the, erm, wrong way about it.

Ivy would pose a very different kind of threat to most other villains, and also with the right material and actress could be a complex, almost sympathetic movie villain, rather than just someone for Batman to put the beatdown on.