The DCEU has had enough bad press to last the franchise’s whole lifetime, as the series was met with torrid reviews for its initial movies. Even after the franchise has seen some fine films, there have been complaints of certain characters not being up to the mark.
In this list, we’ve considered “supporting characters” as those who didn’t have the role of the lead protagonist, meaning the villains in these movies fall under this as well and have been included. Along with that, even minor characters have been taken into account due to the negative reception the fandom has given them. With that said, here are 10 of the DCEU’s most hated supporting characters.
Nereus
The constant flip-flopping between wanting to takeover the surface dwellers and the tease over whether or not he’s a good guy made Nereus out to be wildly inconsistent. Aquaman already had enough villainy through the protagonist’s brother, and fans were bemused to see Nereus have no substance.
He played just about the role W’Kabi did in Black Panther, and it was frustrating to see Nereus being undecided whether to be a villain or switch over to the protagonists. In the end, his potential death would’ve made up for us having to sit through his scenes.
Marilyn Batson
And the worst mother of the DCEU award goes to…this lady. After all, how can one forgive this woman for not only abandoning her child, but then rejecting the same boy after he spent his life trying to track her down?
Marilyn was meant to highlight how Billy needed his foster family more than he ever did his biological one, but that doesn’t stop fans from hating his mother altogether because of how she crushed the poor boy’s heart.
The Sivana Men
We’re not sure which of the two family members of the main antagonist of Shazam! we hate more, so we’ve decided to lump them together. Had it not been for the father and older brother of Sivana belittling him all his life, then the antagonist might not have gone down the dark path he did.
The elder brother was seen bullying his sibling right in front of their father, with the man doing nothing other than laughing about it. He would then blame his younger son for all their problems too, bringing viewers a certain sense of satisfaction when Sivana finally killed his family members.
Wallace Keefe
Keefe represented the sentiments of hatred toward Superman even though he saved the lives of humanity. Keefe twisting this fact into believing that Superman was one of the bad guys just because he was of the same species as Zod, who caused Keefe to lose his legs during the Black Zero Event.
Since the fans wanted Superman to be seen with justice and not misrepresented as an antagonist, Keefe’s attempts at getting Superman recognized as guilty made him one of the worst parts of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Fans even hate him for his death too, as this led to the assumption that Superman was responsible for the explosion that caused Keefe’s demise.
Rick Flag
Of the many faults in Suicide Squad, Rick Flag was one of harbingers in the film’s lack of sense. Had he not been a character at all, the film would’ve gone down smoother since Flag’s representation in the movie had no point other than him being that tough boss figure everyone hates.
His love story with June Moone added to the frustration of fans, as this was an angle nobody welcomed. The presence of Katana, a character who was much more engaging, meant Flag was just dead weight throughout the film’s events and we’re certainly not too happy to see him in The Suicide Squad.
Hunter Griggs
Suicide Squad’s attempt at bringing in outside-the-box comedy fell flat due in part to weirdly placed characters who had no business being there, chief among them being Griggs. While Ike Barinholtz is known for his comedic chops, the same can’t be said for his character.
Rather than his sequence with the Joker come across as dark and vicious, Griggs instead made it come across like a bit from Saturday Night Live. His interactions with Harley Quinn were cringeworthy as well, to the point you’d think he was one of those inappropriate side characters from the Michael Bay Transformers movies.
Slipknot
Everybody and their dog had guessed that Slipknot would be meeting his death based on the previews for Suicide Squad, and everybody and their dog were right too, as Slipknot went out and got his head exploded.
This was one of the worst parts of the movie and most viewers slapped their heads in annoyance, as the attempt at creating shock value only made this character seem like a joke toward the fans. Needless characters like Slipknot test the intelligence of those who watch these films in the cinema, and nobody wanted to feel silly for watching Suicide Squad — but that’s how Slipknot’s lame death came across.
Enchantress/June Moone
Since the fandom thought the Joker would be the main villain of Suicide Squad, they were enraged to find out that role was being filled by Enchantress, a bland character whose alter ego in June Moone was awful to watch as well.
Due to Enchantress pretty much hijacking the role fans wanted for the Joker, she’s now seen as a reminder of the lost potential Suicide Squad carried. As for June Moone, she was too weak of a character to even have been part of Task Force X, and the hope is we’ve seen the last of both Moone and Enchantress.
Lex Luthor
We’re not sure if this was really supposed to be Lex Luthor or a weird version of the Joker; either way, things weren’t pretty in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as Lex was one of the most terrible characters in the movie.
Although Lex appeared only in the stinger for Justice League, even that is considered as one of the scenes that brought the film’s quality down, as nobody was in the mood for more of his over-the-top antics. Out of all the Luthors we’ve seen in DC media, Jesse Eisenberg’s was the one with the worst characterization and chemistry with Superman.
The Joker
You knew this name would be here as soon as you saw the title, and there’s no question that this version of the Joker has become the most disliked figure in the DCEU. Now that Joaquin Phoenix has outshone all of Jared Leto’s performance, the hate toward the DCEU Joker has retroactively become even greater.
Rather than having any kind of supporting role to play in Suicide Squad, the Joker instead weighed it down by having one pointless scene after another. It was done in such a way that you’d think his scenes weren’t even part of the same movie, and the low quality performance did nothing to prevent fans despising this character more than any other in all of the DCEU.
