The DC Extended Universe is wasting no time in pairing notable heroes and villains together, and we're not just talking about the upcoming Justice League movies. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is the most obvious example, pairing the Caped Crusader and Man of Steel together for the first time in live action and Wonder Woman later joining them. Then there was Suicide Squad, which featured a variety of DC villains and showed Joker and Harley Quinn's romance to the largest audience yet. Then came last week's news that Cyborg will reportedly appear in the Flash movie.
While big, ensemble team-ups are usually fun to watch (and at their best are extremely epic), the Flash/Cyborg revelation has us thinking about other duos we want to see in the DCEU. Some of these folks could potentially lead movies together, while others would just get a short amount of screen time. Either way, this franchise would benefit from pairing certain heroes and villains together to pay tribute to the source material. Here are the top 8 duos that should get the cinematic spotlight.
Flash/Green Lantern
While it's good to see that Flash and Cyborg will continue to work together outside of the Justice League, the fact of the matter is that in the comics, the Scarlet Speedster is best friends with Green Lantern, a friendship that spreads across many who've held both identities. Barry Allen is pals with Hal Jordan, Wally West and Kyle Rayner frequently hung out together and in the Justice League animated series, Wally and John Stewart were buddies. Right now, Green Lantern Corps is scheduled for 2020, but there are rumors that at least one of the Emerald Knights will appear in 2019's Justice League 2. Either way, eventually the Green Lantern side of the DC universe will connect to the Earth heroes, and after that happens, it would be great if Flash and one of the Green Lanterns (preferably Hal, since Barry is Flash in this world), could work together on a mission and start building that same rapport they have on the printed page.
Batman/Nightwing
It's been a long time since fans saw Batman working with his sidekicks on the big screens. Batman & Robin is still notoriously awful nearly 20 years later, and the Dark Knight Trilogy had Batman working without any costumed sidekicks. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice established that one of the Robins was killed by The Joker in the DCEU, and just like in the comics, it's presumed that was Jason Todd. That means Dick Grayson is still running around, and likelier than not, he's fighting crime as Nightwing. With a new Batman movie on the way, it's about time that Bruce Wayne and Dick patch things up. Dick deliberately retired from being Robin so he wouldn't have to live in Bruce's shadow anymore, but they can still work together under the right circumstances. What better way than to bring the original Dynamic Duo back together than a new villain threatening Gotham City?
Harley Quinn/Poison Ivy
Joker isn't the only Batman villain who Harley Quinn frequently works with. When not hanging out with the Clown or adventuring on her own, she often hangs out with Poison Ivy. Those two are best friends, though the current comics have kicked things up a notch by putting them in an "open relationship" with each other. Suicide Squad ended with Joker and Harley back together again, but if the DCEU follows the source, then eventually Harley will reach a point where she leaves Joker for good to escape his abuse. When that happens, we hope that in the course of figuring out where she wants to go next, she meets Poison Ivy and they start committing crimes together. The Harley-centric spinoff in development, which will feature other female heroes and villains, would be the prime place for the two of them to cause some trouble.
Green Arrow/Black Canary
While the Arrow TV series put their own spin on the Green Arrow/Black Canary relationship, many fans will agree that its execution was poor, especially given the events from Season 4. Right now, there's no official word about Green Arrow or Black Canary appearing in the DCEU, but featuring them would be the best way to give their romance a second chance in live action. Those two heroes haven't always been together in the comics, but their relationship is arguably the most well known love between two DC superheroes. Post-2020, DC would be wise to release a Green Arrow/Black Canary movie, and it could be influenced by the current Green Arrow: Rebirth comic book. Both heroes have already been fighting crime for a while, but they'll finally meet in this story, and during the course of fighting the main antagonist, they'll fall for each other. Green Arrow and Black Canary's relationship has been so popular in the comics that it needs to be shown on the big screen after all these years.
Booster Gold/Blue Beetle
In the original Justice League International comic book, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle's bromance always ranked as one of the top highlights each month. One was a ex-football player from the future who came to our time searching for fame and glory. The other was a billionaire inventor who couldn't harness the power of an ancient scarab, so decided to model his gadgets and identity after it. Together, their shenanigans amuse readers, but more importantly, they made a pretty good team together...for the most part. It was rumored last year that a Booster Gold/Blue Beetle movie was in development, but more recently, writer Zack Stentz was said to be penning a solo Booster movie. However Booster is featured, it would be a shame if Blue Beetle wasn't running alongside him. Sure, both heroes are capable of shining on their own, but it's together when they're at their best.
Green Lantern/Green Arrow
Even though Green Lantern and Green Arrow were longtime Justice League teammates in the Silver Age of Comics, we have writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams to thank for making these two a prominent duo. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Green Lantern/Green Arrow comic book showed these two battling bad guys across the United States together, but also debating over their conflicting political ideologies. It's been a long time since these two were a crimefighting pair, but nevertheless, their history is enough incentive to pair them together on the big screen. It doesn't even have to be in their own movie. One of the Justice League movies could have a scene near the beginning where they're working together on a case, and after that mess is taken care of, then they could regroup with the other heroes. That said, if we could a little bit of ideological debate between the two of them, that would be the icing on the cake.
Captain Cold/Heat Wave
The Flash's main antagonist has yet to be officially announced, but assuming sequels later follow, it's seems likely that Captain Cold and Heat Wave, two of his most notable adversaries, will be considered for one of those movies. If/when that happens, they need to be paired together, not separately. We don't expect the DCEU's Captain Cold and Heat Wave to be as chummy as they are in the CW DC shows. In fact, it would be better if there was a rivalry between the two of them. Regardless, fire and ice...sorry, cold, need to work together to take down the Flash in this universe rather than go at it separately. Just like in the Flash TV series, it would be easy enough to explain how they guns from the same source, so just get the two criminals to work together towards a common goal: eliminating Central City's speedster, while also trying outdo one another.
Mister Miracle/Big Barda
The DCEU has already begun seeing up the Fourth World mythology, a.k.a. the New Gods and Apokolips. Steppenwolf will be Justice League's main villain, and Darkseid likely won't be too far behind. Still, eventually we'll need to see some heroes from this corner of the DC universe, so why not Mister Miracle and Big Barda? They're two of the most famous heroes from the "New Gods" side of the mythology, even though both have tragic histories living under Darkseid's rule. There's a rumor going around that DC is making a New Gods movie, and while we're skeptical of its authenticity, these two would make excellent protagonists for such a project. Barda is a powerhouse, while Miracle is the universe's best escape artist. Together, they make a great superhero pairing, and much like Green Arrow and Black Canary, they're a notable superhero romantic paring in the DC universe. Whenever the New Gods are introduced, we want these two leading the story.
