10 Essential DC Superheroes Not Yet Used In The DCEU
10. Captain Atom
DC Comics
Captain Atom's legacy might be best embodied by Watchmen analogue Doctor Manhattan, and even though Jon Oppenheimer beats his predecessor in every department - especially in terms of notoriety - there's no reason why the Captain shouldn't form a part of DC's cinematic plans going forward.
Initially acquired by DC in the wake of the collapse of Charlton Comics, along with the likes of Blue Beetle and the Question, Captain Atom has managed to become a vital member of the Justice League in the team's various incarnations. The character even made a splash on Justice League Unlimited, which played on the fact that the Captain, although a superhero through and through, has various ties to the military.
It's a conflict of loyalty that DC could easily look to exploit on the big screen, and though the onscreen continuity won't be short of superpowered characters by the time Shazam! enters the fray, Atom would add some much needed Sci-Fi credentials to a roster packed with fantasy elements.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
