Over the last couple of decades, the box office has been absolutely dominated by comic book movies. While there is no doubt that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is largely responsible for the popularity of the comic book movie genre, lots of other franchises have played an important role too. For example, movies based on DC Comics characters have definitely made their mark on the cinematic world over the years.
Long before a single Marvel movie was a hit, films based on DC characters were already setting the world on fire. For example, Superman: The Movie was a massive hit and Batman was incredibly popular. On top of that, before the Marvel Cinematic Universe debuted in theaters, the Dark Knight Trilogy was proving that superhero movies deserve respect.
Of course, every film franchise has its lowlights as evidenced by the fact that even though there are some great MCU characters, there are some really bad ones too. Similarly, there have been some DC Extended Universe characters that simply didn’t work. Amazingly enough, however, some comic book movie fans were asked to name the worst DCEU portrayal and they chose one of the franchise’s most popular characters.
The Worst Of The Worst
In early-2021, a Reddit user went on r/comicbookmovies and posted a thread with a poll that asked a simple question, what is the worst DCEU portrayal? Even though that subreddit isn’t solely dedicated to the DCEU, as some others are, it is based around people who love comic book movies. As a result, it should have been safe to take the poll seriously.
Unsurprisingly, most of the people who weighed in on the poll chose two of the DCEU’s least popular portrayals. First off, according to the poll, the single worst character portrayal in the DC Extended Universe’s history is Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor since 1.8 thousand users chose him. While it is widely agreed upon that Eisenberg is a talented actor, his Luthor portrayal simply weirded people out. After all, it seemed like Eisenberg’s Luthor was trying to be similar to Heath Ledger’s Joker and that makes no sense since the Crown Prince of Crime and Lex are very different characters.
Speaking of The Joker, Jard Leto’s version of the character barely missed out on being the worst DCEU portrayal since it got 1.6 thousand votes in the aforementioned poll. When it was announced that Leto was set to play the Joker, many fans were excited based on his respected performances in past films. Unfortunately, a lot of people feel that Leto’s Joker missed the mark for a wide array of reasons including the character’s tattoos that were incredibly on the nose. Still, there is no denying that when the character showed up in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, people went nuts over the return of Leto’s Joker.
Surprising Choices
While most people know that the DCEU’s Joker and Lex Luthor have are far from widely beloved, according to the aforementioned poll, some unexpected characters from the franchise are unpopular as well. For example, according to 276 people who voted, Ezra Miller’s The Flash is the worst DCEU character portrayal. Given the fact that Miller was involved in a violent confrontation with a woman, there are extremely valid reasons why they have become unpopular. On the other hand, it is still surprising to see that according to some comic book movie fans, their version of The Flash is worse than the DCEU’s Luthor and Joker.
If the results of the aforementioned Reddit poll are accurate, 122 comic book movie fans feel that Ray Fisher’s Cyborg is the worst DCEU portrayal. After the original version of The Justice League was released to theaters, a lot of people were disappointed because they felt that Fisher’s Cyborg wasn’t given his just due. That said, it is important to note that the poll was taken after Zack Snyder’s Justice League came out and Cyborg was in a much more prominent position in that film.
On top of the disappointment that some fans felt about Ray Fisher’s Cyborg and Ezra Miller’s The Flash, 86 Reddit users thought Henry Cavill’s Superman is the worst DCEU portrayal. Even though there is a vocal group of people who don’t like the movies the character starred in, there are entire articles about how Cavill’s Superman isn’t the reason why those films failed. After all, not only does Cavill have the perfect Superman look, he also seems to care deeply about the character and he imbues his portrayals with a huge amount of dignity. With that in mind, it seems pretty clear that Cavill’s Superman doesn’t deserve that crown of shame.