The next batch of episodes for DuckTales will include the return of Darkwing Duck, suggesting the masked hero could become a more prevalent character in the series. But every good superhero needs some good formidable foes to face off with.
With that in mind, let's look at which classic Darkwing Duck villains have already appeared in DuckTales and ones that should make the leap to the new series.
WHICH VILLAINS HAVE ALREADY APPEARED?
In the world of DuckTales, Darkwing Duck began life as a television series. Starring Jim Starling in the title role, Darkwing Duck became a long-time favorite of characters like Launchpad McQuack and Drake Mallard as children. Their fandom continues into the modern-day, where Mallard was even set to star as Darkwing in a movie reboot of the character before becoming a real-life version of the hero. Three notable villains on this fictional version of the show have appeared so far: Mega-Volt, Quackerjack and the Liquidator all show up within the in-universe Darkwing Duck TV series, as they did in the real-world original. In fact, Mega-Volt was set to be a villain in the unsuccessful movie adaptation -- with a new design similar to Bane from The Dark Knight Rises.
Three prominent Darkwing Duck villains have been confirmed to exist in the regular DuckTales universe. Jim Starling, driven mad during the production of the Darkwing Duck movie, was last seen becoming this world's version of Darkwing's psychotic counterpart, Negaduck. Steelbeak, an agent of F.O.W.L. in both the original Darkwing Duck and the current DuckTales, has already gone up against Launchpad in Season 3's "Double-O-Duck in: You Only Crash Twice!." Taurus Bulba, Darkwing's first villain in the original series and a powerful crime-boss, has also been confirmed to making an appearance at some point in Season 3 of DuckTales, potentially being connected to F.O.W.L., the overarching villains of DuckTales' third season.
WHICH VILLAINS SHOULD APPEAR?
There were a lot of Darkwing Duck villains across the course of the original 91-episode series, but many of them were one-bit joke characters for Darkwing to bounce off of. His most prominent enemies -- such as the Fearsome Five -- were often his most dangerous, while still inept in their own way. It's unlikely any of those five will appear as they originally did (thanks in part to their place as fictional characters within the DuckTales universe), but characters within the DuckTales universe could try to take on their appearance or style to confront the real-world Darkwing. Instead, it'd be more interesting to see DuckTales mine his more obscure villains. One such potentially fearsome foe for Darkwing could be Paddywhack, the original show's answer to Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King's It.
The prevalence of magic in DuckTales could also be an easy introduction for one of the original Darkwing Duck's most prominent characters. Morgana Macawber began the series as an antagonist, using her magical abilities to threaten the city of Cape Canaveral. She eventually settled into a mutual infatuation with Darkwing before fully reforming and becoming a superhero by his side -- with the pair eventually beginning a romance and Morgana learning his secret identity. Morgana could be reinvented for DuckTales to be connected to the same magics that fuel characters like Magica de Spelland Lena, giving her an easy way to also fit into the overarching McDuck storyline as well.
Another potential magical threat could be Splatter Phoenix. A relatively minor character from the original series, the criminal artist was capable of affecting reality around her with her art supplies, leading to some of the most trippy and meta episodes of the original series. It'd be fascinating to see the DuckTales creators, who have been more than willing to play with the format of the series, tackle a character who could bend the very rules of the cartoon reality around her.