DC’s Arrowverse started with Arrow in 2012 with a series based on Green Arrow. It followed Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and his journey from vigilante to martyr. With excellent fight choreography, and a compelling story, Arrow would be joined by The Flash (2014); Supergirl (2015); DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (2016); Black Lightning (2018); Batwoman (2019); and Superman & Lois (2021). And just as every yin has its yang, each series would pit the hero against villains. Some are epic: Reverse-Flash/Eobard Thawne (Tom Cavanagh); Deathstroke (Manu Bennett); even Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer).
Then there are the others. Villains that are easily forgotten, unnecessary, or lame. Villains with inane motives. Villains whose worst crimes are being on the screen. Here are the ten worst.
10. The Stillwater Gang in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
The issue with series that use time-travel is the inability to stick to their rules about it. Legends is one that plays loose with the “Do Not Change History” rule, which brings us to The Stillwater Gang. The Legends land in a town called Salvation, circa 1871. They encounter the gang in the saloon, where one of the gang is shot dead by Jonah Hex (Johnathon Schaech). Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), now sheriff, and the team vow to rid the town of the gang, which they do after Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) kills Jeb Stillwater (Brent Stait) in a duel.
So the Stillwater Gang exist as one-and-done antagonists, a gang of uninteresting thugs from old Hollywood westerns. More troubling: the Legends have potentially rewritten history through their actions. The Stillwater Gang is a stark reminder of how time travel rules change to suit the plot.
9. Cooper Seldon in Arrow
In 2009, Cooper (Nolan Funk), Myron (Matthew McLellan) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) were hacktivists that created a super-virus to attack the US Department of Education. The FBI found them and arrested Cooper, who took full responsibility. Five years pass, and Cooper, now out of prison, has become a cyberterrorist, intent on attacking the city. Eventually aligning himself with Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough), he attempted to hack into Rubicon but was thwarted by Felicity and her father, Noah Kuttler (Tom Amandes), aka The Calculator, leading to his murder at the hands of Darhk.
One word: hacktivist. You can have your fisticuffs in dim alleys, shoot arrows, but what is more exciting than a guy typing on a keyboard? And then, be engaged in a hacking battle against two hackers, one nicknamed “The Calculator”. When you are beaten at your own game by your ex and her father, named after a math device, you find yourself on this list.
8. Red Tornado (Supergirl)
The US Army invested $1 billion in developing an android, meant to stop any rogue Kryptonians. Dr. T.O. Morrow (Iddo Goldberg) led the project, and 11 years later would deliver Red Tornado (Iddo Goldberg). Brimming with weaponry, combat skills, and more, Red Tornado was activated. Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) is asked to fight the android to test its capabilities. Red Tornado starts strong, but Supergirl would turn the tables and damage the android before it escaped. There would be further confrontations before Supergirl destroys the android for good.
This take on Red Tornado could have been amazing. It proved difficult for Supergirl to overcome, and could have turned to the hero we know from the comics. Yet here it is. The biggest sin levied at Red Tornado is its look. Red Tornado looks nothing like it does in the comics. Not bad if it outclassed its roots, but it doesn’t. The suit has little to no other color to break up the red. The face looks like a bad cosplayer under layers of thick red paint. More Red Tomato than Tornado. Couple that with a missed opportunity to expand the character and here we are.
7. Jeremy Tell/Double Down (Arrow)
Jeremy Tell (J.R. Bourne) was turned into a meta-human with the ability to peel off tattoos of playing cards on his body and use them as weapons. This leads him to Darhk, who wants Jeremy to kill Green Arrow. Luring the archer, Jeremy, now Double Down, hits Green Arrow in the arm with one of his cards before the hero makes his escape. Double Down tracks the card to the Arrowcave, and engages in a fight with Team Arrow before escaping. He is eventually caught and sent to the meta-human wing of Iron Heights Prison.
The issue with Double Down is the inevitable comparison to Marvel’s Gambit. There is nothing new or original here that hasn’t been done before, and better. Additionally, it defies logic that a skilled marksman like Green Arrow should have difficulty with a guy that throws cards. Not to mention, a newborn meta-human should probably have some practice with aiming before attacking anyone.
6. Nyxly (Supergirl)
Nyxly (Peta Sergeant), is a fifth-dimensional imp who is the main antagonist through the last season of Supergirl. Supergirl meets Nyxly in the Phantom Zone, where the imp “befriends” Kara and works with her on an escape. Nyxly’s trickery is soon discovered, and Kara sacrifices her sole means of escape to prevent Nyxly from exacting revenge. When the Superfriends do save Kara, they inadvertently bring along Nyxly . Now on Earth, Nyxly sets out to gather the AllStone Totems, which would allow her control over all creation. Learning of the plan, Supergirl resolves to find the totems before Nyxly does, leading to a final showdown that sends Nyxly back to the Phantom Zone.
Nyxly finds herself on this list more a victim of the storyline than for being a bad villain. Nyxly is not menacing, certainly not enough to be the prime antagonist of Supergirl’s final season. She creates life-like beasts that spread mayhem, yet you never get the feeling that anyone is in peril. Everything she does seems more mischievous than deadly. In the pursuit of the totems, you also get to see Nyxly’s tragic backstory. Tragic backstories weaken villains, who are now just pitied. This season should have brought out the big guns, but instead follows a scavenger hunt for MacGuffin Totems, ending with Supergirl somehow being able to communicate with the world, again, inspiring them to do more. Gag.
5. Savitar (The Flash)
Savitar (Grant Gustin) is the primary antagonist of season 3. Another speedster, Savitar is seen killing Iris (Candice Patton) in the future. Though they try, they can’t prevent the murder. Enraged, the Flash (also Grant Gustin) banishes Savitar to the Speed Force with help from time remnants of himself. These time remnants are slaughtered by Savitar, except for one.who, rejected by Team Flash, travels back in time to become… wait… Savitar. He is defeated upon realizing that he kills H.R. Wells (Tom Cavanagh), not Iris, closing the time loop.
Huh? In a nutshell, Savitar creates himself and the circumstances that lead to that creation. It is convoluted, and even if you can follow it, there’s the fact that Savitar is the third villainous speedster in only three seasons. It cries out laziness on the writing staff, leaving people to ask who the next big bad speedster would be, losing viewers not interested in another Flash vs Speedy Bad Guy season.
4. Despero (The Flash)
Despero (Tony Curran) sets off the events of Season 8’s “Armageddon”. A former ruler of Kalanor, Despero was exiled, eventually arriving on Earth. Having seen the 2031 destruction of the Earth, he blames the Flash, and travels to the present to kill the Flash and stop Armageddon. Barry, having bargained for time, learns that Thawne disrupted the timeline. Barry travels back in time and resets the original timeline. Despero now sees Thawne as the threat and should die. Barry doesn’t agree, so he and Despero engage in a final battle before Despero is defeated and disappears.
The sin of Despero is that he is not critical to the plot. He exists solely as a means of exposition and a veiled threat. The story would be more interesting had it focussed solely on Thawne’s villainy. The appearance of Despero is also uninspiring. His human look is akin to Thorfinn (Devan Long) in Ghosts, a CBS sitcom, lessening his impact. His CGI Kalanorian look, with the purple head and third eye, is disappointing, especially knowing that earlier seasons brought Gorilla Grodd and King Shark to life vividly.
3. Brie Larvan/Bug-Eyed Bandit (The Flash/Arrow)
Brie Larvan (Emily Kinney), led a project for Mercury Labs creating robotic bees. Meant for agriculture, Brie developed them for military uses. Once caught, Brie was fired. Furious, Brie tried using her bees to kill those who blew the whistle, but was stopped by Team Flash and jailed. While in prison, she learned a cancerous tumor was on her spine, eventually paralyzing her from the waist down. Learning that Felicity had an implanted bio-stimulant that allowed her to walk, Brie hacked the prison in order to be freed. She took Felicity and Thea (Willa Holland) as hostages. With her newly-updated bees hindering rescue efforts, Curtis created a virus that Arrow was able to use on the bees, allowing Curtis to shut them down, sending Brie back into incarceration.
Yet another villainous hacker. Robot bees can only do so much to put makeup on that trope. Robot bees also can’t make their slight, blonde overlord menacing. Her motives, too, are thin. Killing co-workers seems extreme when you’ve shown you can ruin lives through hacking, and stealing a chip from someone else so you can walk makes no sense. Paralysis hadn’t even occurred yet, and unless she planned on implanting it on herself, any self-respecting health official would question how she came to possess such a device.
2. Music Meister (Supergirl/The Flash crossover)
Music Meister (Darren Criss) is a being who hypnotized Supergirl and the Flash, assuming their powers as they were forced to play out a movie musical. With the heroes occupied, Music Meister tried to rob a bank, almost succeeding. Once Kara and Barry completed their musical journey, Music Meister explained that his intentions were pure, teaching them that even superheroes need time to be loved.
Listen, the existence of musical episodes in non-musical series is tantamount to the fiery depths of Hell. There is never a good plot device to warrant one, with teaching about love particularly awful. And what reason does an extra-dimensional being have for bank robbing? If Music Meister’s endgame is to teach love, then use the borrowed powers towards that goal. Finally, the “I’m not a villain, I’m a hero” cop-out bollocks. Lame.
1. The Forces/Godspeed (The Flash)
The Speed Force is dead, Barry creates an Artificial Speed Force, which gets turned off because of stuff. Iris and Barry revive the Speed Force because Barry is the Paragon of Love, but create three additional forces.
Got it? Good. It goes downhill from here. The three forces are Still (Christian Magby), Strength (Sara Garcia) and Sage (Ennis Esmer). The Speed Force still looks like Nora Allen (Michelle Harrison), but isn’t the same as before. The Flash and the Forces clash, because they’re villains. But then they’re not because “Nora” goes bat-crap crazy and tries to kill them. Barry goes back to stop the creation of the Forces but can’t because they are his and Iris’ children.
Yes, they birthed the Forces, and as parents they can’t stop them. They unite to stop Nora. Nora snaps out of it and all four Forces move to the Speed Force realm, which doesn’t even have a TV. Then a bunch of Godspeed clones show up and fight each other. Iris and Barry’s kids - real kids - arrive from the future to help stop the clones. There’s drama with Godspeed (Karan Oberoi), the clones are stopped, but the OG Godspeed is still around. Barry and Thawne, who has his speed back, team up and take Godspeed down. With speed force light sabers.
Speed Force Light saber duel. Says it all.