Due to the renewed interest in Marvel’s Illuminati after their recent appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, fans on Twitter have been theorizing as to who would be a member of DC Comics’ own Illuminati group. Fans came up with some brilliant rosters for DC’s Illuminati, speculating on which heroes or anti-heroes would be invited to join such a secretive group, and who would accept or reject the offer.
Marvel’s very own Illuminati was introduced in 2005’s New Avengers #7 by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Steve McNiven. The group was later retconned to have been around for years already, with its founding members including Namor, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Charles Xavier, who each represent different types of heroes. Marvel’s Illuminati was directly involved in World War Hulk and Secret Invasion, but took center stage during the “Incursion” crisis that ended the multiverse, with Doctor Doom recreating the universe into Battleworld in the Secret Wars event.
Marvel’s Illuminati is filled with heroes, leaders, and geniuses who all care deeply about their people and their values, but above all else are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure their world stays safe, even if that means allowing other worlds to be destroyed. Now Twitter user Martin Sanchez has posed the question, “If DC had their own version of Marvel’s Illuminati, who do you think would be in it?” to the rest of Comic Book Twitter, and the responses have all been fascinating. DC Comics is filled with plenty of characters who could fill these roles, and much of the debate has been around if DC’s Illuminati would have more villainous characters in it, as it is common for DC villains and heroes to partner together for the “greater good,” and the big question “Would Batman be in the Illuminati?“
User Jason Medley (@0sit071) felt incredibly confident that DC’s Illuminati should include Mr. Terrific, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, Doctor Fate, and Talia al Ghul, based on the fact that he believes the Illuminati should be, at its core, altruistic, so only a “questionable” character like Talia would be invited to the group, never someone like Lex Luthor. He also reported that he thinks Batman would never join a group like the Illuminati!
On the other hand user @damerdorian disagreed, placing Batman in the group alongside others like Amanda Waller, Orion, and Hal Jordan, dividing each character into an archetype, like Batman representing humanity and Orion representing the New Gods.
User @maximrutter asked the question many have on their minds: isn’t DC’s Checkmate organization basically their own Illuminati? At the end of the day the answer is no, Checkmate is a government-run agency created by Amanda Waller as a splinter group of Task Force X, whereas the whole point of Marvel’s Illuminati is that their group is made up of leaders who are not beholden to any government, but instead make their own executive decisions about the future of planet Earth.
Finally @MadsTweetedThis agreed with Jason Medley, stating that the Illuminati needs morally gray members, and that Batman is too “morally right” to ever be willing to sacrifice an entire planet just for his own planet’s survival (although it is best to remember that Batman did create Brother Eye and was behind the Justice League’s defeat in JLA: Tower of Babel). They rounded out their answer by suggesting DC’s Illuminati should be made up of Hippolyta, Dr. Fate, Amanda Waller, Vandal Savage, John Constantine, and Mr. Terrific. Interestingly, almost every list that folks suggested on Twitter included both Doctor Fate and Mr. Terrific, so while the entire roster of DC’s Illuminati might not be agreed upon, it seems clear that most everyone thinks these two heroes should 100 percent be invited to join DC’s Illuminati.
Perhaps there has been a DC Comics Illuminati all along, a mirror to Marvel’s Illuminati, and if so, it is clear that fans on Twitter will have an endless amount of opinions on whether the correct members are in the group!
