10 Comic Book Characters That Need The Brightburn Treatment
Which other heroes need the horror movie treatment?
Brightburn recently released to lukewarm reviews, but it has potential to be a bit of a cult classic in the future, and it has one of the best pitches for a horror movie in ages: Superman, but evil.
The merits and failures of the movie can be discussed at another time, but it's difficult to argue that the film didn't boast an interesting premise. Regardless of the outcome, Evil Superman has a lot of potential.
Yes, Superman has broken bad before, and we’ve had Ultraman, but not like this. This isn’t him becoming a bad guy, this is him becoming a horror movie monster, with the horror cranked up to the maximum.
A lot of other superheroes have gone bad before, but again, not like this. Well, what if they did?
These superheroes could all benefit from having their origin story warped into creepy, horror movie version of itself. With their intense power and imposing presence, the fear factor is already there, they typically just scare the baddies.
There’s a couple of villains in there too, but only ones who typically avoid horror themes but could make great movies if they leaned into them hard.
10. The Riddler
The Riddler has been treated poorly by Batman adaptations. Though Jim Carrey was good in the role, the whole Batman Forever movie was far too campy. Chris Nolan’s Batman Trilogy, on the other hand, didn't even reference the villain at all.
Then there’s the Arkham games. Though the Riddler has a central role there, some of it seems very off brand. He’s hidden little question marks around the Asylum/City, which seems a bit lame but solving them does help some tortured civilians escape, so at least there’s that.
In Arkham Knight though? His riddles are just a racetrack. Yes, one that moves and requires some quick thinking and quicker steering, but still... it’s a racetrack.
In fairness, there are several henchmen suited up in various horrific traps by the Riddler, so it’s not like he’s completely took his eye off the ball. It’s this which could inspire a Brightburnt Riddler movie.
A Brightburn style Riddler movie could be an intense horror festival, like Saw with less body horror and more of a thriller focus.
Is this sort of movie unique in the way Brightburn is? No, but a) it’s only number ten and b) so many of these films are rushed, schlocky and just... bad. A high quality, detective horror inspired by the Riddler could be big news.