Suicide Squad: Kicking Open The Door For Female Villains

There will undoubtedly be great fanfare accompanying the arrival of Captain Marvel, on March 8th, 2019, being the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be led by a solo woman (although the DCEU will have done it two years earlier with Wonder Woman). We know virtually nothing about the film yet, but the source material is filled with great female villains. Battleaxe, Hecate, Dr Minerva, Madame Masque, Jennifer Ransome, Manta, Deathbird and Moonstone – among others – could all make great lead villains.

Shazam has been on the cards for years, and it is finally due to arrive on the big screen on April 5th, 2019. Any film adaptation of this comic book series will undoubtedly feature Black Adam as its main antagonist, but his involvement can also bring with it an appearance by the red-skinned demoness, Blaze – who is, in fact, Shazam’s villainous daughter. The superhero has also come into conflict with Aunt Minerva, Nyola, and Chain Lightning.

Cyborg will be the first film in the DC Extended Universe to be led by a black superhero, and it arrives on April 3rd, 2020 – though little is currently known about its plot. In the source material, Cyborg has combated few female villains, but those that are worthy of adaptation might include Grail, Topaz, Server Aja, and Aurora.

Far off, in the dim and distant future of June 19th, 2020, there lies the promise of a Green Lantern Corps movie. This is a film so early in its development, that not even the superhero roles have been cast yet. The Green Lantern Corps, being an intergalactic police force, is a prime opportunity for the DCEU to include some more female villains – if we assume that the marginalization of women is a concept unique to Earth. Villainous females in the source material are relatively scarce, but possible candidates for adaptation include Harlequin, and Rose Canton.

So there we have it. Looking at only comic book movies due for release before the end of 2020, there are a great number of opportunities for women to play the major miscreant in a big budget movie. Add to that those projects from other genres, and maybe we will finally see a tide turning in the way female villains are portrayed in films, and the frequency with which it happens.

And it will all be thanks, in large part, to Suicide Squad.