10 Stories DC TV Shows Did Better Than The Movies

DC TV shows have done numerous stories better than DC movies have. While the heroes of DC Comics have been a consistent presence on cinema screens, they have also been equally prominent on television screens around the world, in both live-action and animated TV shows. Meanwhile, the storytelling format of a TV show has often been quite advantageous for the titans of the DC Universe, sometimes even more so than a cinematic format has been.

To be sure, many DC movies have captured the grand, epic tales of their heroes and heroines masterfully on the big-screen. However, with TV shows having more built-in time to flesh out stories, some DC TV shows have also captured their protagonist’s stories more fully. Additionally, the advance of film-making technology on television has also enabled some animated and live-action DC TV shows to outdo iconic moments from DC movies.

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12 Mr. Freeze’s Heart of Ice Story

Batman: The Animated Series/Batman & Robin

Batman: The Animated Series is perhaps the definitive portrayal of the Dark Knight’s arctic antagonist Mr. Freeze with the season 1 episode “Heart of Ice”, which reveals the tragic villainous origins of Victor Freeze and his determination to save his cryogenically frozen wife Nora. 1997’s Batman & Robin uses “Heart of Ice” as the basis for the origin of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ice-pun happy Mr. Freeze, but the movie’s campy tone famously left Mr. Freeze in the cooler. In the end, Batman: The Animated Series does Mr. Freeze far more justice, with “Heart of Ice” even winning a Daytime Emmy Award.

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11 Superman Freezing A Lake To Put Out A Huge Fire

Superman & Lois/Superman III

Superman & Lois holds great respect for all versions of Superman in DC’s multiverse, with that respect even extending to Superman III as early as the show’s pilot, which sees Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman freezing water from a lake with his cold breath and using the ice to put out a fire at a local power plant. This is a nod to Superman III, in which Christopher Reeve’s Superman similarly freezes water from a lake in order to put out a Smallville fire. While Superman & Lois has a much better Superman fire extinguishing sequence than Superman III, it shows even bad superhero movies still have great ideas.

10 Bizarro’s Origin Story

Superman & Lois/Superman III

Superman III includes a loose version of Bizarro as a dark mirror of Clark Kent created by synthetic Kryptonite, with the two battling in the movie’s junkyard fight sequence. By contrast, Superman & Lois presents the best live-action version of Bizarro to date, with Tyler Hoechlin playing a more anti-heroic Superman from the Bizarro world. Moreover, despite Bizarro’s death in Superman & Lois season 2, Lex Luthor (Michael Cudlitz) revives him, with Bizarro being mutated into the monstrous beast Doomsday to face Kal-El in the cliffhanger ending of Superman & Lois season 3. Altogether, Superman & Lois‘s Bizarro is a far better take on the Man of Steel’s evil twin.

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9 The Re-Imagining Of Brainiac

Smallville/Superman III

Among the many shortcomings of Superman III, the movie’s loose adaptation of the Kryptonian villain Brainiac essentially boils him down to a supercomputer developed by business tycoon Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn). While the super-computer temporarily possesses Ross’s sister Vera (Annie Ross), Superman III still doesn’t come close to capturing the threat Brainiac poses to Superman. Thankfully, the opposite is true of James Marsters’s version of Brainiac on Smallville, who is re-imagined into a shape-shifting, malevolent string-puller who knows how to stay one step ahead of Clark Kent (Tom Welling). Placing Superman III and Smallville‘s respective takes on Brainiac side-by-side, the former simply can’t compete with Smallville‘s Brainiac.

8 Swamp Thing’s Origin Story

Swamp Thing TV Series (1990 & 2019)/Swamp Thing Movie (1982)

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1982’s Swamp Thing is not one of Wes Crven’s crowning achievements. While the movie follows the origin story of Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise) transforming into Swamp Thing (Dick Durock), the movie’s campy tone and unconvincing Swamp Thing suit make for a lackluster big-screen debut for DC’s most eco-friendly superhero. Durock reprises the role of Swamp Thing in the early ’90’s Swamp Thing TV series, which tells a much more engaging story of sci-fi and human drama. Moreover, the 2019 Swamp Thing streaming series – however short-lived – also brings a much more compelling blend of monster movie magic and tragic pathos to the tale of Dr. Alec Holland.

6 Superman Racing The Flash

Superman: The Animated Series/Justice League (2017)

The 2017 theatrical cut of Justice League includes a race between the Man of Steel and the Scarlet Speedster in one of its end-credits scenes, but it is a clearly thrown together product of the movie’s rushed reshoots, complete with bad effects and jokes that fall flat. By contrast, the Superman: The Animated Series episode “Speed Demons” is a far more enthralling story of the two heroes embarking on a race, only to have to find time to save the world in the middle of it.

5 Clark Kent Racing Bart Allen

Smallville/Justice League (2017)

In addition to the aforementioned Flash-Superman race in Superman: The Animated Series, a live-action race of metahumans is also seen in Smallville‘s season 4 episode “Run”, in which Clark Kent (Tom Welling) meets Smallville‘s young Flash Bart Allen (Kyle Gallner). After Clark helps the wayward, immature Bart learn the importance of responsibility in using his super-speed, Bart departs Smallville to find other metahumans so he and Clark “can form a club or a league or something“. Clark and Bart have one final footrace as Bart speeds out of Smallville, and it too is far better race of (future) Justice Leaguers than the end-credits race scene of Justice League 2017.

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4 The Origin Story Of The Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey/Birds of Prey & The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

While 2020’s Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is overall a better product than the short-lived Birds of Prey TV series of the early 2000’s, the latter tells an overall better Birds of Prey origin story. The Birds of Prey movie is first and foremost about Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), with Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett) as supporting characters. The Birds of Prey themselves don’t even properly form until the end of the movie, while the Birds of Prey TV show is centered entirely on the titular group of heroines, with their connection to Batman used as a backdrop.

3 Nightwing’s Origin Story

Titans/Batman & Robin

Batman’s younger apprentice Dick Grayon is famous for his transition from being the Dark Knight’s partner Robin to becoming the hero Nightwing, and this forms the basis of both Chris O’Donnell and Brenton Thwaites’s versions of Dick Grayson. First seen in Batman Forever, O’Donnell’s Dick Grayon strikes a middle ground of sorts between Robin and Nightwing, referencing the Nightwing name in Batman Forever and donning a Nightwing-style suit in Batman and Robin. On the streaming series Titans, Brenton Thwaites has a more comprehensive hero’s journey, forming the titular Titans while still in the Robin mantle before finally becoming Nightwing in Titans season 2.

2 Superman Flying Around The Earth

Superman & Lois/Superman: The Movie

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1978’s Superman: The Movie includes one of the Man of Steel’s most incredible feats of strength and speed, with Christopher Reeve’s Superman flying around the entire planet so fast that the Earth spins backwards, allowing him to undo the death of Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). However, Superman & Lois‘s season 2 finale massively one-ups its big-screen predecessor, specifically with Superman’s method of stopping Earth from merging from the Bizarro World.

Super-charged with solar energy, Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman flies around the Earth several times to build up momentum, then delivers a gargantuan punch into the Earth’s surface, separating the two worlds. Overall, Superman’s epic punch in Superman & Lois‘ season 2 is even more jaw-dropping than his reversal of time in Superman: The Movie. As such an epic moment heroic glory, Superman & Lois‘s season 2 finale is the best DC TV show moment to outdo a big-screen parallel story.