DC Superheroes Who Deserve Their Own TV Show

It's a fact: Marvel has some really cool TV shows. But while shows like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Marvel's Agents of SHIELD seem to get all the press, DC has quietly put together a stable of fun and exciting shows of their own. Sure, not all of them have been successful (sorry, Constantine), but Arrow, Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl can hold their own with anything Marvel has.

So what should they do next? While Marvel has already started and subsequently canceled shows like Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Punisher, DC has ... what, exactly? Luckily, there are plenty of solid characters that Warner Bros. could put into the television pipeline next. Here's a look at the DC characters that should get their own shows, pronto.

Sandman Mystery Theatre is a classic crime noir set at the height of the Great Depression, with one twist: the detective is a masked vigilante whose creepy, precognitive dreams give him hints of terrible crimes yet to be committed. Its gritty, serialized crime stories are perfect for television, and the romance between the Sandman and modern woman Dian Belmont is maybe the best in comics history. Imagine if the streets of Boardwalk Empire were being patrolled by Batman, and you have an idea of how cool a Sandman show could be.

Doctor Terrance Thirteen is a classic skeptic of the supernatural in the vein of Agent Scully from X-Files. He goes around investigating reports of the paranormal, then either debunks them or battles whatever mysterious forces manifest themselves. A Dr. Thirteen show would be like a modern-day Kolchak the Night Stalker (the inspiration for X-Files) crossed with Ghost Hunters. Sign us up!

Take everything cool about Batman, dump all of Bruce Wayne's morose baggage, and you have Nightwing. Sure, the guy who grew up as Batman's sidekick, Robin, also has his own tragic backstory—like Bruce, Dick Grayson's parents were also murdered—but somehow, Nightwing managed to move past it and become a well-adjusted adult despite Batman's best efforts. That sounds like a breath of fresh air after decades of doom and gloom from the Bat-family. Plus it's just way past time for Nightwing to finally get the spotlight he deserves.

You think the apps on your phone are cool? Well, dig this: Dial H for Hero is about a magic phone that, when used, transforms the caller into a random superhero for a day. Random powers, random costume, random everything. Of course, if you have the phone, that means you need it now, so good luck figuring out your new powers in time to save you from whatever evil menace is about to kill you, or destroy the world, or whatever. A show that gives us new heroes like Captain Lachrymose, the Iron Snail, and Moon Monkey every week is the kind of show a lot of comics fans can get behind.

When Air Force pilot Travis Morgan is shot down on a spy mission, his plane crashes ... right through a dimensional portal to a magical fantasy world. There, he becomes the Warlord, fighting dinosaurs and wizards with weapons and knowledge from our own far more technologically advanced society. It's kind of like Outlander crossed with Conan. Can Travis teach the principles of democracy to the serfs of the mystical land of Skartaris? Probably not. Can he shoot a shape-shifting were-witch with a .44 Magnum? Hell yes, he can!

Rose is a sweet, innocent girl who seems completely normal. But inside her lurks a second personality that Rose has no knowledge of or power over: Thorn, a butt-kicking, vengeful wild child on a mission to hunt down and kill the mysterious figures responsible for her father's death. Can she track down the organized crime cult known as The 100 before they kill her—or before she goes completely mad? The twisted tale of Rose and Thorn would be a perfect complement to something like The CW's iZombie.

Born thousands of years ago, Madame Xanadu was once a carefree nymph before she was betrayed by a lover who stole her powers and left her cursed to wander the world forever. Aided by a magic deck of tarot cards, Madame Xanadu passes through the ages as an adviser to kings and beggars, influencing world events while seeking to protect humanity from forces beyond their understanding. It's just the kind of mythologically rich series that would be perfect in today's post-Lost TV landscape.

An archaeologist who is accidentally transported to the distant planet of Rann via a teleporter beam, Adam Strange becomes the planet's protector, fighting off alien invasions, evil scientists, and other assorted nasties, right up until the beam wears off and he finds himself stranded on Earth again. Now he searches for a way to return to his adopted planet and his true love, Alanna, in order to save them—and himself—before it's too late. C'mon, that was made to be a series! Are you listening, SyFy?

The Creature Commandos pretty much has the greatest premise of all time. Take some of the coolest monsters in fiction—a werewolf, a vampire, a robot, and Frankenstein's monster—put them all together A-Team style, and send them on covert missions. Or, you know, not so covert—it's kind of hard to stay entirely under the radar with that group. Not only is it awesome fun, but if you add in a zombie and a witch, you can pretty much cover every single pop culture fad imaginable at the same time. Win.

Finally, there's Starman, which pretty much has everything you could possibly want from a superhero TV show: heroes, villains, prophecies, the Old West, outer space, sinister circus freaks, pirates, zombies, hipsters and, most importantly, a deep and moving story about the relationships between fathers and sons, brothers and friends. Jack Knight starts off as a reluctant anti-hero but, by the end, he's learned more than just how to kick supervillain butt. He's learned how to be a real person. It's a comic book classic, and it could be a television classic too, if only DC and Warner Bros. have the willpower to make it happen. Variety reported in December 2018 that Joel McHale will take on the character as a recurring role in the Stargirl series.