Which villian would be great in the next Superman movie?

[DochaDocha]

Or even better Mister Mxyzptlk. But not the goofy little guy in a derby. Someone more realistic looking but with the powers to alter reality. Someone Superman can't just punch his was to victory.

I thought about Mxy, but I imagine they'd have to do something even goofier than what Captain Marvel, err, Shazam appears to be aiming for. Not that I'm arguing against that, they just have to be willing to be a bit risky with a Superman movie.

[Superlad93]

Maybe a crazy thought, but what about Milton Fine version of Brainiac?

This sounds super strange, but hear me out, okay? Brainiac has been like the holy grail when it comes to on screen Superman villains, so think maybe we should think about not blowing it all in one shot, so to speak. Build to the more traditional idea of Brainiac. That said, each film beforehand should be its own fairly self-contained story, but just with the idea of Brainiac growing in the background.

In the case of how to actually do Milton Fine for the first film? You've honestly got quite a few genres you can layer on top of the inherent science fiction of Superman fighting a man who has gained telekinetic and telepathic powers. I mean, think of a film where the villain can strike without touching you, cast illusions, and just generally mess with your mind. Super trippy visuals that run the gambit between colorful and terrifying for confrontations between Superman and Fine that run similarly to the fear toxin portion of the Batman Arkham games. The sky's the limit in terms of where you could take this to make trouble for Superman. Like, what if he had a large group of mind controlled people threaten to harm themselves, or have normal people set as mind controlled decoys/misdirects for Clark? You could even barrow aspects from The Exorcist, and make this almost like gradual possession film played out on a grander scale with Superman/Clark and Lois as our protagonist priest characters.

In terms of personality, there is no real great attachment to this version of the character, so I think, again, the sky's the limit. The same goes for visuals. IN FACT, the visuals for what Milton Fine will look like could be really, really fun to play with. He's a character that's able to project illusions, so he can look like whatever he wants. He can craft himself a persona that's visually striking without the awkwardness of explaining how the villain decided to dress strangely.

You could also hint at the alien roots for his powers, while generating speculation and debate from fans if he's telling the truth by making him an unreliable source of information due to his mental afflictions.

This also allows for investigative reporting by Clark and Lois, because this isn't a creature from space who just showed up, but rather a man from Earth that's been around for years and has a story that can be uncovered and traced back.

But, I think my favorite part about Fine as a villain is what Superman could do with him, and what that says about Superman. Just as in the comics, Fine would be a character with very real mental issues, and one of the unfortunate tropes in most superhero films is that the crazy person is this irredeemable bad person too far gone to be salvaged as a person. That's not a great idea to perpetuate, and I don't think Superman would give up on a person like that if he could help it. So, while the film would assuredly have action interspliced through it, but I think the ending should be something akin to Superman tanking the attacks from a final lashing out from Fine, then talking him down.

Or

With the above in mind, you could, and this may be a non-starter for some (thus I saved it for the end), switch out Milton Fine for Regan (All Star Superman). The malevolent mega intelligence of the alien Brainiac infecting Regan Fine (she doesn't have a last name last I checked) and giving her the ability to paint her issues on grand scale. She could even take the form of the Milton Fine Brainiac using illusion casting, and it's only through Clark and Lois' investigations that they realized that it's a young woman named Regan.

The Regan idea might be a bit overwrote, and may undercut the simplicity of the rest, but, and again this is the cool thing about the idea of the Milton Fine Brainiac, it's an option because he's psychic, thus perception is malleable like that.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Manchester Black and The Elite
Parasite
Metallo/Toyman
Terra-man (this might be better for a legion movie)
Mr. Myztplyk
Silver Banshee

I think you can maybe merge Prankster with Superlad's Milton Fine idea in the above post.

[stargazer01]

Maybe a crazy thought, but what about Milton Fine version of Brainiac?

This sounds super strange, but hear me out, okay? Brainiac has been like the holy grail when it comes to on screen Superman villains, so think maybe we should think about not blowing it all in one shot, so to speak. Build to the more traditional idea of Brainiac. That said, each film beforehand should be its own fairly self-contained story, but just with the idea of Brainiac growing in the background.

In the case of how to actually do Milton Fine for the first film? You've honestly got quite a few genres you can layer on top of the inherent science fiction of Superman fighting a man who has gained telekinetic and telepathic powers. I mean, think of a film where the villain can strike without touching you, cast illusions, and just generally mess with your mind. Super trippy visuals that run the gambit between colorful and terrifying for confrontations between Superman and Fine that run similarly to the fear toxin portion of the Batman Arkham games. The sky's the limit in terms of where you could take this to make trouble for Superman. Like, what if he had a large group of mind controlled people threaten to harm themselves, or have normal people set as mind controlled decoys/misdirects for Clark? You could even barrow aspects from The Exorcist, and make this almost like gradual possession film played out on a grander scale with Superman/Clark and Lois as our protagonist priest characters.

In terms of personality, there is no real great attachment to this version of the character, so I think, again, the sky's the limit. The same goes for visuals. IN FACT, the visuals for what Milton Fine will look like could be really, really fun to play with. He's a character that's able to project illusions, so he can look like whatever he wants. He can craft himself a persona that's visually striking without the awkwardness of explaining how the villain decided to dress strangely.

You could also hint at the alien roots for his powers, while generating speculation and debate from fans if he's telling the truth by making him an unreliable source of information due to his mental afflictions.

This also allows for investigative reporting by Clark and Lois, because this isn't a creature from space who just showed up, but rather a man from Earth that's been around for years and has a story that can be uncovered and traced back.

But, I think my favorite part about Fine as a villain is what Superman could do with him, and what that says about Superman. Just as in the comics, Fine would be a character with very real mental issues, and one of the unfortunate tropes in most superhero films is that the crazy person is this irredeemable bad person too far gone to be salvaged as a person. That's not a great idea to perpetuate, and I don't think Superman would give up on a person like that if he could help it. So, while the film would assuredly have action interspliced through it, but I think the ending should be something akin to Superman tanking the attacks from a final lashing out from Fine, then talking him down.

Or

With the above in mind, you could, and this may be a non-starter for some (thus I saved it for the end), switch out Milton Fine for Regan (All Star Superman). The malevolent mega intelligence of the alien Brainiac infecting Regan Fine (she doesn't have a last name last I checked) and giving her the ability to paint her issues on grand scale. She could even take the form of the Milton Fine Brainiac using illusion casting, and it's only through Clark and Lois' investigations that they realized that it's a young woman named Regan.

The Regan idea might be a bit overwrote, and may undercut the simplicity of the rest, but, and again this is the cool thing about the idea of the Milton Fine Brainiac, it's an option because he's psychic, thus perception is malleable like that.

Your idea for Brainiac has a lot of potential. Yes, a villain with mind controlling powers, etc. I love the idea that he comes to Earth and disguises himself as a mere human and tries to take over. It's a different way to do an invasion. But I also like the concept of him having his skull ship somewhere hidden in space and somehow Superman discovers it. The writers could mix different versions of Brainiac for this. I hope it happens some day not far..

I also like Mr Mxy. But not for a next movie, though. Also think he needs to look more humanoid and not a imp, tho. Actually Q from Star Trek was a lot like Mr Mxy. Not sure how much, but both had similar powers.

[Mutant God]

Some ideas:
Brainiac - Super computer that uses tech to control humanity and ends up creating Metallo, Cyborg Superman, and Steel

Manchester Black - British anarchist elitist who uses anti-American propaganda and tries to humiliate Superman

Mongul - Superman comes to War World after discovering a signal from a Kryptonian ship and ends up fighting Mongul's newest warrior Power Girl who at the end of the movie calls herself Supergirl.

Toyman - Toyman creates Superman toys that make him very rich but after losing money he uses the toys to brainwash children.

[Vordan]

Or even better Mister Mxyzptlk. But not the goofy little guy in a derby. Someone more realistic looking but with the powers to alter reality. Someone Superman can't just punch his was to victory.

Could always use the New 52 look. I really liked that look myself.

[Adekis]

Could always use the New 52 look. I really liked that look myself.

I feel like that counts as the goofy little guy in a derby, haha!



I mean, don't get me wrong, I love it, but I don't think this is right for live action.

Actually, I just don't think Mxy is right for live action. I've never liked a serious version of him or a live action version of him. He's just best when he's free to be cartoony, which is probably a little self-defeating for a live action big budget movie to pursue.

Metallo and Parasite have this recurring issue that all they do is change. Many versions of either of them are so different from the others that they're basically only similar on the surface. Otherwise I might almost be inclined to say Metallo.

I do hear he was in a rough cut of Batman v. Superman, but I guess he was cut long before the movie was released, for time constraints.

[stargazer01]

One of my fave episodes of the Supergirl show had Mr Mxy as the villain and it worked fine, IMO. But he wasn't an imp. He was a normal size/looking dude. I think the character works for TV but not for big budget live action movies. On TV, they can get more whimsical sometimes, not so much in the movies.

I would use Mxy on TV but I would have a normal size actor to portray him. Someone with an interesting look and with a wink in his eye. The actor and portrayal in Supergirl was very good, IMO. They nailed it. I want something similar to that for a Superman show. Maybe when Supes finally defeat Mxy, we can see a hint at the end that his real appearance is not as he looked but shorter... just a hint in the shadowns.

[ssupes]

Obvious choice would be be brainiac but I would like to see Manchester black as well, especially if he could cure Henry cavills superman of the whole injustice inspired "Lois is the reason he's superman" idea.

[Vordan]

Obvious choice would be be brainiac but I would like to see Manchester black as well, especially if he could cure Henry cavills superman of the whole injustice inspired "Lois is the reason he's superman" idea.

I would love to get a Manchester movie but you’d have to adapt him for the DCEU. If you made Manchester at the start a misaimed fanboy of Superman I think he could work. At first he thinks Supes is cool because Supes killed Zod and Doomsday. But now that the post-Snyder Supes is different he dislikes Supes, and that causes conflict between the two where Manchester tries to convince Clark that killing is fine while Supes tries to convince him that they need to do better than he did.

[Adekis]

Obvious choice would be be brainiac but I would like to see Manchester black as well, especially if he could cure Henry cavills superman of the whole injustice inspired "Lois is the reason he's superman" idea.

Definitely in favor of curing that particular Injustice inspired sickness. Black did something like that in Ending Battle, didn't it? Manchester Black convinced Superman that Lois was dead and he was like "hm, I could kill him in revenge, or I could keep on living by like, the same set of morals I've abided my my entire life. Nah, revenge is definitely not a good reason to kill someone and it would betray Lois' memory as much as Clark Kent's living morals if I killed him for that anyway." I'd be on board to see that in a movie, 100%. It's absolutely the cure to that particular problem.

I definitely think that Manchester Black needs to be adapted to a Superman who will kill in extreme circumstances in order to work in a world that's seen Man of Steel though. Changing the debate from "Superman who won't kill vs Black who will" to "Superman who kills only as a last resort to save innocent lives in a desperate situation, vs Black who kills at earliest provocation" could allow for a version of Black who actually works as a character against a Superman with nuance to his morality, and adding the Ending Battle beat about Lois would only help.

Of course, a lot of the reason some people like Black in the first place is because it gives someone for Superman to say "I don't kill, EVER" to, which both isn't true and shouldn't be true, so in that regard my desire to see the Superman vs Black debate reframed as something more morally complex, goes against what certain fans would want out of that fight in the first place.

[9th.]

All I want is Brainiac, you can keep everyone else.