7 Ways The Arrowverse Is Better Than The DCEU

Villains are the cornerstone for any good story let alone comic books. Villains are personal characters that affect heroes in different ways, whether that be emotionally or physically. And yet, so often the DCEU villains have felt rather flat. Enchantress just came out of nowhere and didn't have strong ill-will towards her would-be teammates; Ares, while his passive-aggressive style is interesting, ultimately gets lost in wooden dialogue; and Steppenwolf is just Steppenwolf - he wants the Mother Boxes and that's about it.

While they're not all winners, when they're good, the Arrowverse villains are actually pretty brilliant. And the best thing about it is that each show has gotten their "brilliant" villain, not just one show hording them all. Arrow got its Deathstroke, Flash got its Eobard Thawne, Supergirl got its Lex Luthor and Agent Liberty - even Legends of Tomorrow found a brilliant villain in Damien Darhk when Arrow couldn't.

What makes them stand where the DCEU villains haven't (yet) is how personal they get to their respective heroes. Watching Tom Cavanagh deliver Eobard's dialogue with a reserved and careful tone is captivating, emphasising that, despite his speed, it's his extreme patience that allows him to strike at Flash so tragically.

The DCEU moving forward needs to take care with its villains and plot them from the get-go. They can't just be an after thought at the end of the film. Heck, keep a villain for a couple of films if you need to.