R-Rated DC Comic Book Scenes We'll Never See On Screen
Although recent blockbuster comic book adaptations such as "Deadpool" and "Joker" have proven there is an audience for R-rated superhero movies, the vast majority of output from both Marvel and DC eschews "mature" content. The reason behind this is simple — the studios want to get their product in front of as many people as possible, so they tend to make their films family friendly to boost the potential number of viewers.
Any adult themes or content risk restricting the audience to older individuals, which limits potential box office gross. Of course, the likes of Marvel and DC also want to use these movies to sell toys and merchandise, and younger fans are certainly a prime market for toys. With all that in mind, it makes sense that controversial moments of graphic violence, nudity, and drug use are usually avoided.
So, it isn't all that surprising that you probably won't get to see these R-rated DC comic book scenes on screen in a live action film or television adaptation any time soon. (In theory, they could happen in a gritty straight-to-DVD animated movie like "Justice League Dark: Apokolips War" or the HBO series "Harley Quinn," but those don't count for the purposes of this list.)
Superman kills Martha
Superman is so much the epitome of the classic superhero that it stands out all the more when he does something despicable or horrifying. Sent to Earth as a child from the planet Krypton, Kal-El is raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent in the quiet rural town of Smallville. Under their influence, he becomes Superman — a defender of humanity and pursuer of justice around the world. This origin story changes completely in a 2017 Halloween special called "Bump in the Night" where Superman arrives on the planet with very different intentions.
Keith Giffen and Edward Lee wrote this terrifying story as part of the "DC House of Horror" anthology, and it's a far bloodier first contact tale between the couple and the last son of Krypton. After crashing into Earth, a young Kal-El embarks on a murderous campaign. He brutally kills Jonathan before turning his sights on Martha, pursuing her through her home while causing terrible injuries as she is thrown from a truck and burned by Superman's heat vision. It's a dark tale that would be out of place in most family-friendly superhero movies, especially considering the main character is a child hellbent on seemingly wiping out humanity in a truly gruesome way.
However, it is possible to turn this storyline into a movie — in fact, it's called "Brightburn" and it came out in 2019. But "Brightburn" isn't an official "Superman" story in any capacity — it only borrows his origin as an inspiration. A canonical version of young Clark Kent probably won't ever kill his parents in a movie or TV show for all the reasons mentioned above.
Batgirl gets involved in an orgy (sort of)
Some people say the animated version of "The Killing Joke" is the cringiest thing DC has ever done to Barbara Gordon. Allow us to offer a second option...
When you think of DC, orgies are unlikely to be the first thing you picture. Sure, comics are often filled with gratuitous violence and mature scenes that can deal with dark imagery, but nudity and sex are still taboo in many ways. Just look at the controversy surrounding DC cutting a now-infamous scene from HBO's "Harley Quinn" where Batman was going to perform oral sex on Catwoman.
So, when Batgirl is chasing down Catwoman through the streets of Gotham in 2008's "Batman Confidential" #18, the last place fans were expecting the pair to end up was in Gotham City's Hedonist Society. Arriving at the sex club hot on the heels of her adversary, Batgirl can only enter the building if she follows its strict code of conduct that, among other things, prohibits attendees from wearing any clothing outside of a face mask. Unwilling to let Catwoman escape, Batgirl strips and enters the Hedonist Society. This leads to some rather cheesy jokes, and it's obviously very difficult to imagine this moment from the comics ever finding its way into a movie or TV show ... unless, of course, that TV show is HBO's "Harley Quinn," where cheesy jokes and unnecessary nudity are pretty much standard fare.
Black Manta kills the infant Aquababy
The decades-long archenemy of Aquaman, Black Manta is a supervillain who lacks scruples, especially when it comes to the king of Atlantis. Black Manta is obsessed with the hero and is determined to ruin his life by causing him as much pain as possible. A good example of this happens in "Adventure Comics" #452, published in 1977, in a story called "Death of a Prince."
During this comic, Black Manta showcases just how much chaos he is capable of causing. First, the villain takes an entire underwater city hostage, hoping to establish his own rival colony to Atlantis. He then decides to make Aquaman and Aqualad fight each other to the death — a plan he initiates by kidnapping Aquaman's infant son. Knowing that the hero and his sidekick would be unwilling to cause each other lasting damage without a good reason, he effectively tortures the baby by imprisoning it in a small cell that slowly fills with air to suffocate him.
Aquaman and Aqualad are ultimately able to escape and put a stop to Black Manta's plans. The pair even manage to free Arthur Curry Jr., but only too late to save the baby as he has already succumbed to the ordeal.
Doctor Light rapes Sue Dibny
The "Identity Crisis" saga is infamously controversial. Despite being one of DC's most heavily promoted events of its era, "Identity Crisis" makes for bleak reading and contains a few scenes that ensure it is unsuitable for anything other than an R-rated adaptation at the very least.
The story begins with the surprise death of Sue Dibny, a lesser-known character and the wife of Elongated Man. The superhero community quickly comes to the aid of Elongated Man with the hope of discovering who killed his wife and why, especially because she was pregnant at the time of her death. Doctor Light soon emerges as a prime suspect upon the revelation that he had previously raped Dibny years earlier and had committed sexual assault against many individuals.
Over the course of the seven issues, it becomes clear that Zatanna and the rest of the Justice League performed a magical mindwipe on Doctor Light to prevent him from carrying out similar acts, while the truth of Dibny's death at the hands of Jean Loring — albeit it accidentally — has even more tragic consequences.
The Joker skins a man alive
You can always count on the Joker to do something terrible and loathsome. While the character sometimes takes on a comical persona, the dark nature of the villain is demonstrated in full force in innumerable stories. Over the course of his horrifying career, the Joker has done some truly despicable things and become well known for killing innocent victims and fellow criminals in depraved ways.
This particular example occurred during Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo's 2008 graphic novel "Joker." Newly released from Arkham Asylum, Joker makes a quick visit to a strip club owned by a former henchman known only as Monty. While Harley Quinn dances on stage, the Joker takes Monty into a side room, sadistically removes all of his skin, and forces him to dance with his flesh exposed for all to see.
The Joker uses this brutal murder as a way of establishing himself as a major power in Gotham once again, and someone not to be crossed. The killing also has a sort of mirrored suffering, with Monty forced to undergo a far more extreme, painful, and fatal version of what his employees go through in order to make a living.
Batman forces Superman to kill Lois Lane
Unlike some of his compatriots, Batman isn't a saintly hero who does everything by the book. The Dark Knight is more than prepared to do some pretty awful things for the greater good and is even willing to break his one major rule in exceptional circumstances. DC Comics' heroes can just be thankful that he is on their side. After all, this is a man who has shown he is capable of taking down the entire Justice League single-handedly.
That leads to the question of what would happen if Batman turned evil. The Batman Who Laughs is a version of Batman that no longer has a strict code against killing his enemies or any sort of moral code whatsoever. Instead, his sheer cruelty and determination to overcome anyone who tries to stop him creates a supervillain unlike any the world has ever seen before. The character is created when the Joker, in his final moments, finally manages to make Batman snap by releasing a toxin that fuses elements of their personalities together.
Over the course of the story, the Batman Who Laughs does many things that more than probably won't ever make it into a movie, but the worst is arguably when he forces Superman to kill Lois Lane. Exposing both Superman and his son Jon Kent to black kryptonite, the pair fly into an uncontrollable rage that leads them to kill Lois and themselves all while being fully aware of what is happening.
Wonder Woman and Superman have devastating sex
"The Dark Knight Strikes Again!" was Frank Miller's highly anticipated sequel to his earlier "The Dark Knight Returns." That mini-series effectively revitalized the "Batman" franchise and popularized the darker, more mature depiction of the character that modern fans are familiar with. However, roughly 15 years later, "The Dark Knight Strikes Again!" failed to have the same impact as its predecessor, largely due to its over-the-top story elements and bizarre art style.
One of the standout moments that raised eyebrows was an extended scene in which Superman and Wonder Woman get physical across multiple splash pages, which has devastating consequences for those around. While flying through the air having sex, the pair cause various natural disasters such as earthquakes that presumably kill many people — or, at the very least, do some heavy property damage.
There's a distinct lack of sex or anything approaching nudity in superhero films and television series generally and an encounter that also harms innocent people in the process isn't going to be top of anyone's list of scenes to include in a "Superman" or "Wonder Woman" movie anytime soon.
The Joker gets brain surgery
While we often get to see the likes of Batman receiving medical attention from allies such as Alfred after a hard day of fighting criminals in the streets of Gotham, what happens to those on the receiving end of justice isn't typically made clear. One exception that proves the rule is "Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing" #3, in which the Joker takes an entire hospital hostage in order to get the medical treatment he needs.
Threatening the patients and staff with a hidden bomb within the building, the Joker manages to convince a surgeon to secretly work on him in a closet without the necessary tools and anesthetic. When it becomes clear that the Joker has a bullet in his head, the doctor is forced to perform brain surgery on a fully conscious Joker. To make matters worse, the comic shows the full bloody, gory affair as the Joker's skull is cut open.
Black Adam maims his enemies
Before the 2022 film starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson hit cinema screens, not a ton of people who weren't dedicated comic readers would have recognized Black Adam. Yet, the character has a rich history in DC Comics as both a supervillain and antihero, most often depicted as an adversary to Shazam. While his origin and motivations have often changed, one thing that has remained constant is his ability to incapacitate his foes in the most gruesome ways possible.
When squaring up against Psycho Pirate during "Infinite Crisis," Black Adam gouges out the villain's eyes and crushes his skull in spectacular fashion. He also tears Terra-Man in half during a live television broadcast to dissuade any other villains from terrorizing his home country of Kahndaq. Meanwhile, in a fight against the Teen Titans from a different story, he rips off Young Frankenstein's arms without so much as a second thought. It's little wonder that when Martian Manhunter looks into his mind using his physic powers he's so horrified by what he sees that he flees Earth and hides far away from Black Adam's reach.
James Gordon Jr. mutilates a childhood bully
While the Gordon family includes two of Batman's greatest allies — namely Commissioner James Gordon and his daughter Barbara — James Gordon Jr. is a murderer whose depravity could make the Joker wince.
While James appears in various Batman stories, he comes to prominence in "The Black Mirror" and "Hunger City" arcs of "Detective Comics" in 2011. These stories reveal that even from a young age, James Jr. had sociopathic tendencies and was violent towards both children and animals. As he matures, James continues with a sadistic streak that sees him attack many people and eventually embark across the U.S. as a serial killer. However, his most horrific crime comes when he tracks down and captures a former school bully. He mutilates his victim beyond recognition and keeps him alive throughout the ordeal. This includes sawing off his limbs, removing one of his eyes, and breaking off his lower jaw, all in the name of vengeance.
Here, we have violence on an NC-17-worthy scale that would be too much for even the darkest live-action "Batman" movies.
Green Lantern dates a teenager
The mantle of Green Lantern is not borne by any individual — it's a title bestowed upon members of the intergalactic Green Lantern Corps. However, fans closely associate the name with Hal Jordan, a leading figure in the Corps and founding member of the Justice League. That's not to say, though, that Hal hasn't been embroiled in controversy. He definitely murders pretty much the entire Green Lantern Corps at one point, but for the moment, let's focus on his love life.
13-year-old girl Arisia is a young Green Lantern, first introduced in "Tales of the Green Lantern Corps" #1 before becoming a semi-regular fixture in the world of DC Comics. She has a huge crush on Hal, but he explains that he sees her more as a younger sister and they couldn't be together because of her age.
Yet, just a few issues later, Arisia magically transforms her body into that of a more mature woman using the power of her ring. This led to a backlash from readers who felt that Hal was in a relationship with a teenager who had simply assumed an older appearance, despite pleas from the writers that the character was actually older than her initial form suggested. Whatever the case, such a controversial and divisive moment is pretty much guaranteed to never make an on-screen appearance.
Plastic Man commits sexual assault
Despite the general creepy behavior that Plastic Man exhibits throughout his history, he often works with the Justice League and other superhero teams. His exposure to a strange chemical mixture altered his physiology and gave him full control of his body so that he can stretch, shrink, and transform into any shape or size. That leads to Plastic Man using these powers for crime fighting but also for pranks and some pretty cringeworthy acts.
One such encounter involves Wonder Woman in "JLA" #62, with Plastic Man shifting his shape to hide and try to peep on Wonder Woman as she undressed. Fortunately, she catches him before she takes off any of her clothing, yet it's still a very voyeuristic, predatory thing to do.
A far more egregious event took place in "JLA" #33. During this 1999 comic, Plastic Man joins Orion, Steel, Hal Jordan, and Big Barda on a mission to the French Riviera. Big Barda emerges at one point wearing a sleek red dress that turns many heads, only to discover that the dress is actually Plastic Man in disguise. This is a clear case of sexual assault, but since this is a '90s comic book, he faces no consequences.
Deathstroke sexually manipulates Terra
A brutal assassin and no stranger to gruesome violence, Deathstroke is known for having a particular vendetta against the Teen Titans and Dick Grayson.
During the events of "The Judas Contract," Deathstroke manipulates Tara Markov, otherwise known as the Teen Titan member Terra, to infiltrate the group and help destroy it from within. He does this by starting a sexual relationship with her and using his power over her to control everything she does. Making matters worse, Tara is just 15 years old at the time. Not even the cartoon version of Deathstroke that appears in the 2017 animated feature "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" is willing to go quite that far — he emotionally manipulates Tara, but he declines to sleep with her.
In John Ridley's "The Other History of the DC Universe," it is made clear exactly what Deathstroke did to Terra. Speaking about her role in the demise of the Teen Titans, it states that attempts to pin responsibility on her are "victim blaming" and goes on to say that Deathstroke "coerced an underage, mentally unstable girl into having sexual relations with him. Again, and again, and again" (via Bleeding Cool).
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).