10 Horrifying DC Movie Moments That Are Way Worse Than You Remember Them

There have been many horrifying DC movie moments, but some are worse than most tend to remember. The characters of DC comics, both heroes and villains, are typically presented as larger-than-life archetypes, and that is frequently reflected in their on-film portrayals. While that often leads to triumphant moments of heroism and epic battles of good and evil, DC films have also not neglected to show the dark side of comic book movie storytelling.

Several DC movies, from the worst to the best, have had outright horrifying moments of characters dying and heroes enduring unexpected defeats. Other darker DC movie moments have also involved heartbreaking twists and unexpected reveals or characters heading down surprising dark paths. Here are 10 horrifying DC movie moments that are way worse than often remembered.

18 The Trench

Aquaman (2018)

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James Wan is most widely known for his horror movie pedigree in the Saw, Insidious, and Conjuring franchises, and he delivered a powerful second-act sequence of terror in 2018’s Aquaman with the Trench. As Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) and Mera (Amber Heard) try to avert a war between Atlantis and the surface world, the monstrous undersea beasts known as the Trench attack their boat, forcing them to flee to the oceanic depths. While Aquaman has a generally light-hearted tone, the members of Trench are nonetheless frightening adversaries that add an edge of horror to Arthur Curry’s high-seas adventure.

16 Wonder Woman Killing Billy Batson

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)

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2013’s animated movie Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox adapts the Flashpoint comics story, in which Barry Allen creates an alternate reality after traveling back in time to prevent his mother’s murder. With Atlantis and Themyscira at war, one of the darkest moments of The Flashpoint Paradox comes when Wonder Woman uses her lasso to force Shazam to say his name, turning him back into Billy Batson and enabling her to kill him. The DC Universe seen in the majority of The Flashpoint Paradox is an alternate reality, but even still, the brutal killing of a young hero like Billy Batson hits with a dark impact all its own.

14 Billy Meets His Mother

Shazam! (2019)

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In 2019’s Shazam!, Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is determined to find his mother after being separated from her as a child and being moved from one foster home to another ever since. When Billy finally finds his mother, Marilyn (Caroline Palmer), it is far from the happy reunion he expected, with Marilyn admitting she abandoned Billy in the belief that a foster family could look after him better than she could as a mother with an unexpected pregnancy. Even with all the superheroic and holiday season magic of Shazam!, the truth of how he became an orphan is still a heartbreaking revelation for Billy to uncover.

12 Dark Flash’s Identity Is Revealed

The Flash (2023)

In the alternate reality of Andy Muschietti’s The Flash, both Barry Allen and his younger self (Ezra Miller) come to realize they cannot undo the devastating outcome of the invasion of General Zod (Michael Shannon), as it is an “inevitable intersection” of this alternate timeline. In The Flash movie’s ending, the two Barrys then meet Dark Flash and realize he is the future version of Young Barry, still trying to fix the past. Judging from Dark Flash’s appearance, he is likely in his early ’70s, suggesting the 18-year-old Young Barry has spent over 50 years trying to rewrite an event that is a permanent fixture of this reality, truly making him a Dark Flash.

11 Batman’s Intro

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice introduced Ben Affleck’s Batman as both a 20-year crime-fighting veteran and one who terrifies even his own allies in the Gotham City Police Department. That much is established from his introductory scene in Batman v Superman, in which police arrive at a building where a human trafficking operation is run. Batman has already apprehended and tied up the traffickers and left even the very victims he’s saved shivering in fright. With one cop discovering the Dark Knight looming in a corner like an enormous bat, Batman v Superman emphasizes Ben Affleck’s Caped Crusader as pure fear made into a man.

10 Darkseid Defeating The League

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020)

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The 2020 animated film Justice League Dark: Apokolips War was the concluding chapter of the DC Animated Movie Universe and tells the story of the Justice League being brutally defeated when they face Darkseid on his home world of Apokolips. Darkseid is nothing if not cruel in his victory, slaughtering many heroes in his devastating conquest of Earth, placing numerous others like Batman under his mind control, and de-powering Superman with liquid Kryptonite. Though Apokolips War shows the heroes rally to defeat Darkseid and save Earth, the movie does not hold back in the slightest in showing the horror of what Darkseid does to the League and Earth.

8 The Glimpses Of The Knightmare

Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)

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While Batman v Superman provided a harrowing glimpse into the post-apocalyptic Knightmare, Zack Snyder’s Justice League features two, and it truly is as hellish a future vision as any superhero movie has featured. The Knightmare of Zack Snyder’s Justice League shows a future in which Darkseid (Ray Porter) conquers Earth, kills Lois Lane (Amy Adams), and turns Superman (Henry Cavill) into his minion with the Anti-Life Equation. With Darkseid turning the entire planet into a wasteland, the Knightmare more than lives up to its name, with Snyder’s unmade Justice League sequels having planned to show the efforts of Batman (Ben Affleck) to undo the Knightmare future in order to save Earth.

6 Lau’s Death

The Dark Knight (2008)

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The Dark Knight features one of the most brutal yet hidden death scenes in any comic book movie. After kidnapping Lau (Chin Han), the money man for Gotham’s crime bosses, and amassing half of their funds in a cargo ship, Heath Ledger’s Joker simply lights the huge pile of money on fire – with a tied up Lau sitting right at the top. The Joker, of course, is completely indifferent to the fact that Lau is being burned alive just feet away from him, and between that and the fact that Lau’s death happens off-screen makes it one of the Clown Prince of Crime’s most disturbing murders.

4 The Penguin’s Death

Batman Returns (1992)

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Danny DeVito’s Penguin is portrayed as a thoroughly revolting monster in Batman Returns, but the movie takes a sharp turn in its third act with Oswald Cobblepott’s death scene. After a failed attempt to kill Batman (Michael Keaton), the Penguin gurgles, “I’ll murder you momentarily, but first I need a cold drink of ice water” before keeling over dead. With his emperor Penguin giving Oswald a makeshift funeral procession, the Penguin’s death scene is still a ruthlessly bitter ending to Batman Returns that surely traumatized a lot of children upon its release.

2 Arthur Fleck Finally Snaps

Joker (2019)

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Todd Phillips’s Joker presented a new take on Mr. J as impoverished clown Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a man pushed over the edge after the lifetime of plight and mockery he’s experienced. After talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) uses a video of Arthur’s failed attempt at stand-up comedy to mock him, Arthur accepts an invite to be interviewed, only to show up in clown make-up as “Joker” and confess to some previous murders, before shooting Murray on camera. To Arthur, mistreating the downtrodden like him will eventually cause society to “get what you f—ing deserve!” which makes the moment he finally snaps in Joker the most horrifying DC movie moment ever.