Top 10 Best Comebacks in DCEU Movies
#10: Victor Stone Rejects the Mother Box
"Zack Snyder's Justice League" (2021) After an extraterrestrial Mother box saved Victor Stone's life, it gave him a literal cyborg body. This transformation made him feel alien to society and sent him spiraling into a deep depression. And whilst this comeback from an effectively dead state would be impressive enough, he has a bigger mountain to climb at the movie's climactic battle. Three sentient mother boxes give him the opportunity to live in a world where he looks human and is with his parents. However, he rejects the offer and returns to reality. Seeing him become content with being both cybernetic and human made for a fantastic scene. With one decision, Victor showed his will was as strong as stone. Sorry, we couldn’t help such a technically great pun.
#9: El Diablo Embraces His Abilities
Top 10 Best Insults & Comebacks from 2000s Movies
"Suicide Squad" (2016) For much of David Ayer's "Suicide Squad," little is known of the criminal they call 'El Diablo.' While we know he has powerful fire powers, he’s reluctant to use them. We eventually learn Diablo doesn’t like violence because he reduced his family to ashes when he lost his temper. Despite never wanting to let his fiery abilities loose, he embraces them to save his new friends from certain death. El Diablo becomes formidable enough to take on the incredibly powerful villain Incubus. Unfortunately, the fiery man still has to make a sacrifice play to take his enemy out. Although El Diablo's time in the spotlight was brief, he still managed to go from being ashamed of his abilities to eagerly embracing his heroic side.
#8: Coming Back to Defeat Ares
Top 20 Best LGBTQ+ Coming of Age Movies
“Wonder Woman” (2017) Throughout Diana Prince’s first solo outing, she is eager to use her fantastical powers to end the war. When she tries to defeat Ares, she finds him to be absurdly powerful and is discouraged that the war is still raging. It initially looks like Diana will be thrown into more despair when her love interest Steve Trevor sacrifices himself to save lives. However, this tragic moment inspires her to push herself even harder. Despite just having her world turned completely upside down, she rallies and defeats the god of war in a brilliant display of light. This scene proved Diana’s connection to humanity was her greatest superpower.
#7: King Shark Couldn’t Be Kept Down
Supervillain Origins: King Shark
"The Suicide Squad" (2021) King Shark was one of the breakout stars of 2021's "The Suicide Squad." While he seems to have a childlike demeanor around his allies, he can be an absolute beast when the occasion calls for it. However, we were still worried when King Shark was bitten by beasts, sent falling from a great height and ended up right in the path of a waiting military force. We thought the new aquatic star was done for when the soldiers attacked him. But he quickly rose up and showed his enemies that he couldn’t go down so easily. After watching him walk off his massive fall and take severe punishment like nothing, we became even bigger fans of King Shark.
#6: Renee Montoya Refuses to Give Up
"Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)" (2020) When we first meet Renee Montoya, it’s clear that she’s a straight edge, no-nonsense cop in a city that’s full of eccentric characters. She’s also incredibly good at detective work. Despite her skills, Montoya is constantly disrespected and underestimated by her peers. And she also struggles to overcome a dependency on alcohol. So, when she’s suspended from the force and stopped from pursuing her passion, Montoya hits rock bottom. But after a text shows she’s still needed, the former detective picks herself back up and rushes into the fight. After helping her allies fight Black Mask, Montoya leaves the GCPD behind and continues to fight crime with the Birds of Prey. It’s fantastic to see her finally be recognized as a badass heroine.
#5: Peacemaker Gets a Second Shot
"The Suicide Squad" (2021) & "Peacemaker" (2022-) By the time we get to end of Peacemaker’s journey in “The Suicide Squad”, we weren’t exactly fans of his. Not only did this violent vigilante threaten his loveable teammate Ratcatcher 2, but he also slayed the noble Rick Flag. We didn’t exactly weep for him when he was severely wounded by his former ally Bloodsport within a crumbling facility. Against all odds, Peacemaker survived a gunshot and building collapse. After spending time in the hospital, he rebounded to face a new threat in his popular self-titled series. He quickly proved himself to be a layered character that has genuine heroic instincts inside of him. The fact that Peacemaker recovered from his serious injuries and repaired his reputation amongst fans is incredibly impressive.
#4: Superman Rejoins the Fight
Black Adam vs Superman
"Zack Snyder's Justice League" (2021) After Superman heroically gave his life to save his loved ones, the other heroes decide to bring him back with the help of an alien mother box. But the Kryptonian man’s resurrection doesn’t exactly go smoothly. Shortly after Superman comes to life, it becomes clear that he isn’t himself. And due to a misunderstanding, he lashes out at the nearby heroes. It looked like the man of steel’s mind was truly lost until Lois Lane arrived. Thanks to her presence, Superman is able to regain his sense of self and pick up a sleek new black suit. Although we were once worried about the reborn man fighting his friends, his satisfying arc concludes when he flies to their side to help defeat Steppenwolf.
#3: Arthur Returns With a Legendary Trident
“Aquaman” (2018) The “Aquaman” film makes it clear that whoever holds the legendary Trident of Atlan is meant to be the King of the Oceans. So, it seemed unlikely that the aloof and bitter Arthur Curry would ever be interested in pursuing the weapon to help Atlantis. Not only did members of the underwater city reject him, but his own brother tried to slay him in a public duel. But Arthur puts his painful past aside and still completes a perilous journey to reclaim the trident. The scene where he hoists the weapon proudly as he heads into battle is immensely triumphant. Sometimes, the best comeback stories are those where you overcome your own pain…and get a cool trident too.
#2: The Flash Restores the World
Top 10 Movies Where The World Is Saved At The Last Minute
"Zack Snyder's Justice League" (2021) In "Zack Snyder's Justice League", Barry Allen is a relatively inexperienced hero that doesn’t like to push his self-imposed limits. He admits that funny things could happen to time if he approaches the speed of light. But Barry reconsiders his restrictions at a dark moment. While the speedster is running to stop Steppenwolf’s evil plot, he’s wounded by enemy fire. Unfortunately, Barry doesn’t recover fast enough to prevent the destruction of earth…at first. The potential end of everything he knew and loved inspires the speedster to break his limits and run fast enough to reverse time. Watching the world come back together as he runs in a beautiful sight. While Flash lacked experience, he made up for his shortcomings with this fantastic display of speed.
#1: Zack Snyder Regains His Reputation
Every Zack Snyder Movie RANKED
"Zack Snyder's Justice League" (2021) Arguably the biggest DCEU comeback of them took place almost entirely behind the cameras. In 2017, director Zack Snyder was forced to step away from making “Justice League” due to the untimely passing of his daughter. After Joss Whedon took over directing duties, the resulting movie wasn’t well-received. But fans were still hungry to see Snyder’s original vision play out. After years of online campaigns and support, the filmmaker got a chance to return to make the movie he’d always wanted. In 2021, Snyder released an epic four hour cut that some fans still can’t get enough of. The tale of the vindicated director who rose from adversity to be praised for his creative approach makes for a glorious comeback story.
