The villains in DC films have historically been a key component in helping DC pave the way for comic book movies and proving early on that superhero films can be very successful -- going all the way back to Superman and the high-profile casting of Gene Hackman in the Lex Luthor role. Iconic portrayals of General Zod in Superman II, and of Joker in Batman are still talked about today. Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker will of course go down in history as one of the best. He not only won a posthumous Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category, but he is the only actor to ever be nominated for an Oscar for a comic book movie.
On the flip-side, the DCEU struggled with how it presented its villains. It started out well enough with General Zod, but it’s been all downhill from there, culminating with the disappointing Steppenwolf. Still, it does hold the distinction of bringing an all-villain team up movie to the big screen in Suicide Squad. The range of powers of the villains has also varied quite a bit, and as the DC film universe has opened up to more super-powered heroes, this has also brought some incredibly strong villains to the forefront. With so much history to draw from, and the range of villains from humans to cosmic beings which have been presented, let's take a look at who were the most powerful ones in the entire history of DC live-action films.
15 CATWOMAN (BATMAN RETURNS)
Aside from Michelle Pfeiffer's memorable performance, Catwoman as portrayed in Batman Returns was also notable for the alterations made to the character. No longer just a thief, this version also gained some superhuman attributes after being saved by a pack of alley cats.
Selina could not only give Batman a good fight, she also seemingly developed nine lives, so even if she were to perish eight times, it would not be a victory for anybody who battled her. This development was a departure from her comic book characterization, but one that definitely made her a more formidable opponent in terms of physicality.
14 MR.FREEZE
Batman & Robin is best known for being the movie where the cinematic Batman hit rock bottom, and a significant reason for that was the portrayal of Mr.Freeze and the questionable puns he spewed throughout the movie. However, looking past that, he did prove to be worthy adversary in terms of the damage he caused.
With a suit that allowed him to live in otherwise harmful temperature to him, as well as augmenting his strength significantly, and his freeze gun, which froze both Robin and Gotham City, he was definitely not an easy villain to overcome. It was a good thing that Batman was thinking ahead and had the foresight to have skates on his boots.
13 BANE
Although his powers were reduced and he was more "grounded" in The Dark Knight Rises, Bane was a true physical threat for Batman. While the other villains in the Nolan trilogy battled Batman on more of a psychological level, Bane had no problem engaging in a fistfight with the Dark Knight... and winning every time.
Their first battle was no contest as Bane easily defeated Batman and severely injured his back. It took a shot from the Batpod by Selina Kyle to fully subdue him at the end of the film. Of all the "Bat-villains" on-screen (at least in the Nolanverse), there is no doubt that Bane was the most physically imposing.
12 HECTOR HAMMOND
Green Lantern was a film that was not particularly well-received, but it did feature a relatively good portrayal of Hector Hammond. During an operation being conducted on the body of Abin Sur, Hector was infected with Parallax (more on that later). This caused his head to expand and gave him telepathic and telekinetic powers.
He was also able to establish a direct mental connection with Parallax, and after getting used to his powers, Hector slayed his own father. Although he was weakened and eventually taken out by Parallax, he proved capable of creating a lot of havoc with his newfound powers.
11 KILLER CROC
Although his screen time is limited in Suicide Squad, one does get a sense of Killer Croc's power and abilities. His skin provided a barrier against many attacks and showed he could survive underwater for a long period of time as he goes to plant a bomb in an underground tunnel which had been flooded.
He also proved critical in the final battle as he shot explosives at Enchantress, which facilitated her eventual defeat. Although some fans were disappointed with him not having much of an emotional connection due to a lack of focus on backstory, he did make a impact when in action.
10 EL DIABLO
Despite the fact that Harley Quinn and Joker received most of the headlines (positive and negative), it may very well have been El Diablo who had the best character arc in Suicide Squad. However, it wasn't just his story that was strong, he also had considerable powers. Once he lost his control, his fiery capabilities took over and gave him added strength.
Impressively, he was able to fight Incubus one-on-one and hold his own, and gave the team enough time to set-up some explosives to try and dispose of the god. Although it was implied that he ultimately perished too, El Diablo definitely made his presence known in the film, emotionally and physically.
9 GENERAL ZOD
General Zod always gives Superman more than he can handle, with a little help from some of his fellow Kryptonian allies. Although he possesses the same powers as Superman, his utter disregard for human life makes him even more deadly as he does not care should any of them perish in a battle between the two.
In Superman II, it took some clever thinking on Superman's part to defeat Zod and his two Kryptonian teammates, as the battle in Metropolis was going the way of General Zod. Although he is defeated in that film and in Man of Steel, he showed plenty of strength, and it took Superman all he had to emerge victorious.
8 ENCHANTRESS
One can argue whether Enchantress should have been the main villain for an inaugural Suicide Squad film, but the powers which she showcased are undeniably strong. As she was trying to destroy the world, she concurrently showed her strength by taking on many members of the Suicide Squad, and handling them with relative ease.
In addition to her physical strength, she also has magical powers and the ability to cast spells, and it became exceedingly clear that she was capable of launching many different kinds of coordinated attacks. It took some determined teamwork and some trickery from Harley Quinn to be able to finally overcome her, but she was put down.
7 EVIL SUPERMAN
Many people look back to Superman III as the turning point for the cinematic Superman. Coming off of two extremely successful movies, this film was a critical and financial misfire and some fans argue that the character has still not recovered from the negative backlash. However, it did have an interesting twist -- Clark Kent fighting his evil super-powered self.
After exposure to some Kryptonite had some negative side-effects, Superman turned dark and started committing random acts of craziness, including straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Finally, Clark and "evil Superman" split into two and battled, with Clark prevailing.
6 INCUBUS
Even if there were very little characterization details about Incubus in Suicide Squad for him to be anything beyond a generic supervillain, there is no doubt that he was extremely powerful. The stronger brother of Enchantress, he relied more on brute strength while fighting the team than arcane magicks.
It took a massive effort to overcome him. First, El Diablo had to use all his strength just to hold him off and then an explosives unit had to detonate some bombs to be able to eliminate him. Whatever he lacked in terms of making some kind of emotional connection, he made up for in terms of just how powerful he was.
5 NUCLEAR MAN
The final nail in the coffin for the first iteration of the Superman movie franchise was Superman 4: The Quest For Peace, a disaster on every level. However, behind the sub-par effects, story, acting and directing was a villain who did rival Superman in terms of brute strength: Nuclear Man. He battled Superman all over the world and even in outer space.
To go along with powers similar to Superman's, he also is able to generate nuclear heat and fire energy blasts from his hands. His one weakness is that any absence from sunlight renders him completely powerless, a fact that Superman exploits to be able to defeat him in the climactic battle.
4 ARES
The main villain in the blockbuster hit Wonder Woman, Ares proved to be a worthy foe in many respects. While the main focus was on his "behind-the-scenes" evil schemes, such as influencing people into battle, once he got into a physical confrontation with Wonder Woman, he was no easy adversary and gave her all she could handle.
He seemed to have the upper hand on Diana, and it took an incredible amount of strength and willpower (resulting from Steve Trevor's demise) for Wonder Woman to emerge victorious. He truly was a three-dimensional villain who complemented his cerebral machinations with pure strength.
3 PARALLAX
There was quite a bit of criticism in terms of how Parallax actually looked in Green Lantern, with complaints ranging from the CGI to resembling a cloud with a face. The powers displayed by it, however, were quite impressive. After being accidentally freed form a cosmic prison, Parallax started ending the lives of Green Lanterns and even other civilizations before heading to Earth.
It then proceeded to take out Hector Hammond for not being able to finish Hal Jordan. Parallax has the ability to absorb the life force of any living creature by way of their fear, and the more he does so, the stronger he becomes. It is vulnerable though, and Hal Jordan devises a plan to have it trapped by the Sun's pull, where it is ultimately burned alive.
2 STEPPENWOLF
Most people will remember Steppenwolf in Justice League as a poorly-rendered CGI villain with little backstory to become emotionally invested in him. This is unfortunate because for all the negatives about the character in terms of looks and characterization, he actually was a really powerful villain who is shown fighting (and winning) many battles.
An historic account shows us he fought the Amazons, Atlanteans, and even some Green Lanterns at the same time. After returning to Earth, he is eager to fight Wonder Woman and even instructs his parademons to not get involved. The final battle shows that only the intervention of Superman tipped the scales in the Justice League's favor.
1 DOOMSDAY
Yet another villain whose physical look and wonky CGI dominated the conversation, rather than the truly incredible strength that he showed, was Doomsday! Being able to fend off attacks by both Superman and Wonder Woman concurrently is no small feat. Even a nuclear missile fired at Doomsday by the military had very little effect on him.
It would take some incredible teamwork by Wonder Woman, Batman, and a great sacrifice by Superman to be able to finally bring the beast down. Even his demise is not too much of a celebratory moment, considering what happened to Superman. In fact, in the entire history of DC films, Doomsday is the villain who caused the most grief to DC heroes.