10 DC Perfect Castings Totally Forgotten About

Many DC movie castings have been perfect without getting the true recognition they deserve. Casting is an important facet to every movie and TV series, but for movies based upon characters in DC Comics, casting is often an especially meticulous process, as some figures have decades of history and mythology behind them. With such strong attention to detail paid to their casting, many DC movies have created timelessly iconic big-screen versions of heroes like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other heroes, while their villains have often been just as well cast.

However, as with the casting of any franchise or genre, both the DCEU movie timeline and other DC films have made perfect casting choices without the performers in question getting their proper credit. Often times, this is usually just a case of flawless casting accidentally slipping through the cracks, though it has also occasionally been a side effect of some perfectly cast DC movie actors being overshadowed by the recognition afforded to others. Here are 10 perfect DC movie castings that have been significantly overlooked or forgotten.

10 Paul Reubens Makes Tucker Cobblepot Into A High-Society Monster

Batman Returns (1992)

While Paul Reubens will forever be best remembered for his energetic portrayal of Pee-Wee Herman, his cameo in the opening of Tim Burton’s Batman Returns makes great use of his range from the opposite end of the spectrum. Reubens portrays the monocle-wearing Gotham City socialite Tucker Cobblepot, who – horrified by his son Oswald’s birth defects – cruelly tosses him into Gotham’s sewers with his wife Esther (Diane Salinger). Without uttering a single word, Reubens embodies one of the most icy and monstrous villains of any DC movie, and one who foreshadows the very monster his own son will eventually become as Danny DeVito’s version of The Penguin.

9 Djimon Hounsou’s Papa Midnite Is A Sinister Underworld Figure

Constantine (2005)

Djimon Hounsou’s many comic book movie roles have brought his powerful on-screen presence to both DC and Marvel movies, but one of the most overlooked is his portrayal of Papa Midnite in 2005’s Constantine. As an intermediary between the forces of Heaven and Hell, Hounsou’s Papa Midnite is a richly sinister underworld figure whom Keanu Reeves’s John Constantine is forced to trust to get the job done. Despite not being the main villain of Constantine, Hounsou’s understated performance as Papa Midnite is a stand-out among Constantine’s ruthless nemeses in the background, with Hounsou’s Papa Midnite clearly prepared to stop playing along any time he wishes.

8 Peter Stormare’s Lucifer Is A Scene-Chewing Treat

Constantine (2005)

With Constantine providing such a vivid glimpse into the fiery underworld of Hell, the movie saves Lucifer himself (Peter Stormare) for the finale, and wisely so with Stormare’s campy yet menacing performance. Peter Stormare might be one of the most scene-chewing versions of Satan in big-screen history, as evidenced by the sheer delight he brings to finally getting his hands on Constantine’s soul, only to lose it after Constantine’s heroic sacrifice. Whenever DC’s film and TV multiverse visits Hell next – either alongside Keanu Reeves’s return as John Constantine in Constatine 2 or another project – Peter Stormare’s Lucifer would be a true villainous delight to see again.

7 Aaron Eckhart Embodies The Tragedy Of Harvey Dent Becoming Two-Face

The Dark Knight (2008)

Aaron Eckhart’s performance as Harvey Dent in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight is not forgotten per se, but the power of Heath Ledger’s Joker performance and its legacy overshadowed virtually everything in The Dark Knight upon its 2008 release. However, it can be safely said that Aaron Eckhart is flawless as the stalwart, upstanding Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent. Eckhart’s perfection as Harvey also makes his transformation into Two-Face that much more powerful, as a man destroyed internally and externally by personal tragedy who falls from the hero he once was, becoming a man with nothing left to live for and going on a rampage of vengeance.

6 Marc McClure’s Jimmy Olsen Is An Upbeat Delight

Superman – Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1978 – 1987)

Clark Kent’s cub reporter pal Jimmy Olsen is a major supporting character in the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, with Marc McClure capturing the Daily Planet photographer’s youthful zeal and admiration for the Man of Steel splendidly. As a human onlooker to Superman’s many rescues, McClure’s Jimmy Olsen is an infectious delight as he snaps still shots of Superman in action with a grin of joy on his face. Mark McClure’s Jimmy Olsen remains one of the most engaging supporting characters of the Christopher Reeve Superman films.

5 Jackie Earle Haley Brings Rorschach’s Dark Heroism To Life

Watchmen (2009)

Few DC superheroes are as ruthless and uncompromising as Walter Kovacs a.k.a. Rorschach in Watchmen – attributes that Jackie Earle Haley brings to life in Zack Snyder’s 2009’s adaptation of Watchmen. Haley spends much of Watchmen hidden behind Rorschach’s mask, and is a consistently powerful presence with his low, gravelly voice and stride of pure solitude. Mask-off, Haley keeps that same screen presence equally electrifying as a dark, mysterious vigilante. As Rorschach, Haley also masterfully delivers some of the most iconic lines of Watchmen, including “I’m not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with me!” and most famous of all, “Never compromise, not even in the face of Armageddon.“

4 Jim Carrey Exudes The Riddler’s Wacky Energy

Batman Forever (1995)

In the 21st century, it’s easy to forget just how much of a ’90s comedy mega-star Jim Carrey built himself into, and Batman Forever is one of the tallest monuments to Carrey’s talents for physical comedy. Carrey’s Edward Nygma a.k.a. the Riddler is pure unhinged electricity dialed up to 11 – a perfect fit for one of Batman’s most over-the-top yet undeniably brilliant villains. Jim Carrey’s wacky perfection as the Riddler remains one of his most memorable performances, and one of his most quotable with lines like “Caffeine will kill ya!” and “Has anyone ever told you you have a serious impulse control problem?!” to a perturbed Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones).

3 Laurence Fishburne Makes Perry White Into A Stalwart Journalist

Man of Steel & Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2013 & 2016)

The Daily Planet’s editor-in-chief Perry White sees one of his most fleshed out and even outright heroic portrayals ever in Laurence Fishburne’s performance as Perry White in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Fishburne nails Perry’s journalistic integrity, but also shows another side of Perry as a man willing to risk his life to save his reporter Jenny (Rebecca Buller) in Man of Steel‘s climactic battle. Fishburne also brings plenty of snark and levity to his performance, and in his subtler moments, Fishburne makes notable hints in some of his facial expressions that Perry White does indeed know that Clark Kent is Superman.

2 Michael Gough Is Absolutely Flawless As Alfred Pennyworth

Batman – Batman & Robin (1989 – 1997)

Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred Pennyworth is a natural highlight of any Batman movie he makes an appearance in, and Michael Gough’s Alfred remains one of the best cast versions of the character in DC’s on film history. Gough simply personifies the essence of Alfred every time he’s on-screen, embodying his gentlemanly temperament, the paternal, sagely wisdom he imparts to both Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, and his ever-present concern for proper housekeeping. Gough’s Alfred is also one of the few elements of Tim Burton Batman movies to stay consistent in the tone shift into the Joel Schumacher Batman films, meaning even years later, the actor’s performance as Alfred remains a highlight of all DC movies.

1 Hugo E. Blick Gives Young Jack Napier An Evil Backstory With Limited Screen Time

Batman (1989)

Jack Nicholson brings his famously hammy, ear-to-ear grinning zaniness to his role as the Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman, but arguably the movie’s most overlooked performance is that of Hugo E. Blick as the young version of the Joker’s alter ego Jack Napier. Batman establishes Jack Napier as the killer of Thomas and Martha Wayne, with Blick’s iteration of the villain emerging from the mist as a grinning, ghostly demon, who asks the young Bruce, “Tell me kid, you ever dance with the devil by the pale moonlight?“

Aside from capturing the look of a young Jack Napier perfectly, Blick’s brief appearance is almost ethereal in the evil he embodies of a gangster with no reluctance to point a gun at a young child. Even in his very limited screen time, Blick makes the young Jack Napier into a truly cold-hearted monster practically destined to one day become the Clown Prince of Crime. Departing with a casual “see you around kid,” Blick’s young Jack Napier is one of the most chilling yet overlooked DC movie castings of all time.