In the long history of DC movies, many plot holes have propped up, several of which being hard to ignore. Since its inception in 1934, DC Comics has introduced hundreds of complex heroes and villains begging to be adapted into live-action. A series of short films in the 1940s led to the first feature, Superman and the Mole Men, in 1951, paving the way for the DCEU and now James Gunn’s DC Universe decades later. However, with so many projects produced under the DC label, there are also a massive number of glaring plot holes.
The 1960s and 1970s birthed some iconic representations of DC Comics’ heavy-hitters, Batman and Superman, both of whom received most of the focus in live-action adaptations in subsequent years. Most of these projects produced sequels, or even full-on franchises, meaning continuity was a major issue as the stories continued. Projects developed by DC between the 1970s and 1990s also leaned heavily into the campier aspects of DC Comics, allowing some ridiculous, fantastical, and oftentimes confusing storylines to emerge, but this is a problem that still prevails in more recent DC film as well. Here are 14 examples of some DC plot holes that are too huge to overlook.
14 Superman Could Have Caught Both Of Those Missiles In 1978
Christopher Reeve starred in 1978’s Superman opposite Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor, with the latter formulating a plan to bomb the United States’ West Coast to create some prize real estate. In an effort to distract the Man of Steel, however, Luthor also sends a missile to the East Coast, which Superman flies to intercept first. In the film, his capture of one missile means he’s unable to stop the other, and the West Coast is destroyed. However, only moments later, Superman flies at incredible speeds around the planet to turn back time. If this were possible, surely Superman would have been able to fly and capture both missiles in time.
13 The Batwing’s Aiming Systems Are Useless In 1989’s Batman
While Superman dominated the 1970s and 1980s, Tim Burton developed Batman in 1989, bringing Michael Keaton’s iconic Bruce Wayne to the big screen, starting the Caped Crusader’s reign over superhero cinema. Batman pitted the titular hero against Jack Nicholson’s Joker, who planned to poison the citizens of Gotham at the city’s parade. Batman luckily used his Batwing to thwart the Joker’s plans at the last second, but when aiming his weapons at the Joker, he misses every single shot – only to be shot down moments later by one bullet from the Joker’s gun. Batman surely would have had some higher-tech aiming systems in his Batwing.
12 Hal Jordan Is Allowed To Keep The Green Lantern Ring
2011’s Green Lantern is widely regarded as one of the worst DC projects of all time, featuring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, a human chosen to become a mystical Green Lantern. Despite undergoing vigorous training, the leader of the Green Lantern Corps, Sinestro, is doubtful of Jordan’s potential, so Jordan quits the Corps not long after being drafted. This decision perhaps should have prompted Sinestro to ask Hal Jordan for his Green Lantern ring and lantern back, but the human was allowed to keep these powerful and ancient objects. This seems like an incredibly misguided decision, as these important objects could have fallen into the wrong hands.
11 How Did Batman Make It Back To Gotham In The Dark Knight Rises?
During a battle against Tom Hardy’s Bane in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne finds himself defeated, his back broken, and imprisoned in an underground cave prison in India. Even so, five months later, Batman triumphantly returns to Gotham City – though this is completely unexplained. Bruce Wayne was left in India with no equipment, technology, or money, so it’s difficult to picture how he physically could have actually returned to Gotham, particularly since Bane had all but locked down the city. It’s unclear how Batman returned to Gotham, and since that franchise has ended, this plot hole is likely to remain unresolved.
10 Everybody Should Know That Clark Kent Is Superman
Man of Steel marked the start of Zack Snyder’s DC Extended Universe, introducing Henry Cavill as Superman. Despite being held in high regard among fans, there’s one glaring plot hole in Man of Steel concerning Superman’s human alter ego. Throughout the film, Superman and Amy Adams’ Lois Lane make no attempt to hide the fact that Superman is Clark Kent. Lane calls him by his name several times when he’s in his superhero costume, actively investigates Clark Kent before teaming up with Superman, and the Kryptonian visitors even land at the Kent farm, so it stands to reason that Superman’s civilian alter ego should have been exposed.
9 Lex Luthor Creates His Own Worst Nightmare In Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
Despite a strong debut at the box office, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice went on to be unfavorably received by critics, due in part to its attempts to introduce too many new concepts in such a short space of time. This indeed lent itself to the creation of several massive plot holes, one of which was in the irony of Lex Luthor’s creation of Doomsday. Luthor created the Kryptonian monster in response to his fear of Superman, but Doomsday himself was in fact everything Luthor feared, hence why Doomsday’s origin doesn’t really make any sense. In fact, if Superman hadn’t killed Doomsday, the entire planet would have been at risk.
8 What Was The Suicide Squad’s Original Mission?
On paper, 2016’s Suicide Squad should have been a high point in the DCEU, but the reasoning for forming the anithero team never added up. In the film, the Suicide Squad band together to defeat Cara Delevingne’s Enchantress, but that wasn’t their original mission. In fact, the team were originally brought together simply to escort Amanda Waller, portrayed by Viola Davis, up some stairs and into a helicopter that she simply could have gotten aboard by herself. This mission made the team seem ridiculous and pointless, and detracted from a lot of the impact of Suicide Squad, with many regarding it as one of the DCEU’s weakest projects.
7 Wonder Woman’s Ludendorff Didn’t Die In WWI
Danny Huston appeared as Erich Ludendorff in 2017’s Wonder Woman, based on the real-life Ludendorff who was central to the German victories during World War I, and eventually helped the Nazis’ rise to power after WWI. This is a prime example of the problems with real-life figures being fictionalized for films, as Huston’s Ludendorff met his demise at the hands of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. But in reality, Ludendorff survived long after World War I, eventually dying in 1937. When dealing with such sensitive figures in a very specific period of European history, it’s probably best not to fudge the numbers this much.
6 Steppenwolf’s Mother Box Quest Doesn’t Make Sense
Early on in 2017’s Justice League, it’s established that Steppenwolf has a connection to the mystical Mother Boxes, which allows him to teleport to their exact locations and retrieve them on his mission to form “the Unity.” This should have posed an almost impossible task for the newly-formed Justice League: trying to beat an unstoppable villain. However, Steppenwolf later spends a good portion of Justice League interrogating various characters in an effort to find out the Mother Boxes’ locations. If he was already connected to them, surely he would have known where they were being hidden without having to waste time nailing down their locations.
5 Shazam’s Powers Aren’t Actually Shown Off In Shazam! & Shazam! Fury Of The Gods
Introduced in 2019’s Shazam!, Zachary Levi’s Shazam was a new DCEU hero, enhanced with the gods’ powers. After a meeting with the Wizard, Billy received the Wisdom of Solomon, the Strength of Hercules, the Stamina of Atlas, the Power of Zeus, the Courage of Achilles, and the Speed of Mercury. These powers should have made Billy the ultimate superhero, but instead, it seemed as though Wisdom and Courage were lost in the shuffle, as they were practically nowhere to be seen in either Shazam! or its 2023 sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, as Billy was goofy, scared, and bumbling both in and out of his adult form.
4 Why Was Arthur Fleck Still Raised By Penny In Joker?
2019’s Joker saw Todd Phillips develop a world separate to the often-poorly-received DCEU, marking Joaquin Phoenix’s powerful and memorable performance as Arthur Fleck, the man who would become the Joker. However, there’s one glaring mistake in Joker that simply doesn’t make sense. When Arthur was a child, his adoptive mother, Penny, allowed his stepfather to abuse him, which was later reported, leading to Penny’s incarceration in Arkham State Hospital. At this point, Arthur should have been put in foster care or adopted by a new family, but he was instead allowed to return to Penny after she was released from hospital, despite her frankly terrible parenting.
3 Rick Flag & Harley Quinn Were Expendable In The Suicide Squad
James Gunn took over the titular team for 2021’s The Suicide Squad, bringing a more colorful and entertaining version of the team to theaters than 2016’s iteration. In the film’s opening moments, Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn are part of a team sent to Corto Maltese who are gunned down in moments, revealed to be a decoy so a second team could come ashore safely. This perhaps means that Amanda Waller considered Flag and Quinn expendable, including them on the first team which was destined to be ambushed, despite them being heavy-hitters and valuable members of the team. That’s a bit hard to believe in light of their contributions to the first movie’s story.
2 The Police Should Have Unmasked Robert Pattinson’s Batman
Matt Reeves’ The Batman brought a new Caped Crusader to the big screen, now portrayed by Robert Pattinson, working alongside the Gotham City Police Department to track down the Riddler. After the bombing at Mayor Don Mitchell Jr.’s funeral, however, Batman is brought to the police station and locked inside the interrogation room, surrounded by officers – none of whom thought it might be a good idea to take off Batman’s mask to reveal his true identity, or perhaps confiscate some of the Dark Knight’s dangerous equipment and weapons. Instead, the police seemed to just wait for Batman to wake up before continuing on, none-the-wiser as to who he really is.
1 Why Didn’t DC’s Gods Take Back Black Adam’s Power?
After Black Adam, questions remain regarding the setup for the main plot. It was revealed that Adam was imprisoned during a battle with Shazam and DC’s gods 2,600 years ago, only to be awoken in the present day with all of his powers still intact. This seemed counterproductive on the part of the gods, who surely could have taken back Adam’s powers with ease, especially since he didn’t receive them the natural way. Black Adam’s entire story hinging on this illogical decision by the gods made this one of the DC movies’ biggest plot holes.
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