Jason Mewes Lists The 3 Best And 3 Worst DC Characters - Exclusive
Like all comic book universes, DC Comics is made up of a sprawling canon of fan-favorites and total busts. On one hand, you've got your holy trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. On the other hand, you've got the likes of Pandora, Azrael, or Jason Todd as Robin. Everyone has their favorites, their worsts and firsts — but what about lifelong comics fan (and comic actor) Jason Mewes?
We had the opportunity to speak with Mewes — a.k.a. Jay, of Jay and Silent Bob fame — while he was promoting his film Madness in the Method, which he stars in and directed as his debut feature behind the camera.
Knowing that he knows his stuff when it comes to comic books, we first asked Mewes who he would bring on to his own crew of Avengers. After he put that team together, we put a twist on things for the Distinguished Competition. Instead of having Mewes make his own version of the Justice League or other similar group, we split the question in two, asking for his take on the three best and three worst characters DC Comics has to offer.
"If we're going powerhouses, I have my favorites, but again I wouldn't say they're the strongest," Mewes said. "But I would have to say — for a team — I would say Batman, Superman, and Martian Manhunter. Because Martian Manhunter, to me, has just as much power as Superman."
Despite their Justice League-level power, Mewes admitted "they all have weaknesses, but [Martian Manhunter] can turn intangible and invisible and such."
As for his other two choices, Superman is obviously super, with Batman making the cut less for his strength, and more for his outstanding, remarkable smarts. (He is, after all, the world's greatest detective — at least in the worlds of DC, anyway.)
Mewes was clear that with his selection of favorites, he mostly went for raw strength over scrappy personality, and that he might personally prefer some characters who don't hit quite so hard. "Deadshot's one of my favorite characters," he said. "And Vigilante, but they're not very, you know..."
After selecting his top three, Mewes had a surprising amount of trouble getting into the DC Comics characters he likes the least. An especially charming thing about the real-life Jay is that he doesn't seem to dislike much of anything. When it comes to fandom, he's like a living embodiment of that one song from The LEGO Movie.
"Worse characters... I mean I don't think there are worse characters," Mewes said. "They're all sort of awesome."
But then, in a eureka moment, he started seeing double.
"The freaking Wonder Twins," Mewes said, pegging both characters as being some of DC's worst. "I mean, I know they can turn into most things. But in the cartoon, they only turn into water and ice and hawks and stuff. I'm sure they could turn into dragons, and maybe something cooler, but maybe not. So those two are the worst off the top of my head."
So that's two, if we want to be charitable. But let's combine them into one unit and go for two more. What else does he got?
"Another worst, I would say, if we're going old school, is King Tut," Mewes said. But the filmmaker and performer also has some animosity towards a more popular villain.
"I'm not a fan of the Penguin," Mewes said. "I know he was sort of cool, but not really."
In selecting his three worst DC characters, Mewes spent a lot of time expounding on the comic book brand's villains, which he says include some of his favorite comic book characters in general. Of particular note for him outside of his top three is the whole collection of Batman's rogues' gallery — including Two-Face, the Riddler, and all the other fiends and foes who tend to cross paths with justice in Gotham City. It's not just what they do in comics, cartoons, and on film that makes them neat to him — it's also all the toy sets they end up in, which he has a habit of collecting.
"Clay Face, Joker, Poison Ivy — all that stuff is pretty awesome," Mewes said.
Mewes also marked himself as a big fan of the Suicide Squad comics, with particular praise for Joker, Harley Quinn, and Killer Croc.
"Deadshot's on that team," Mewes said, circling back to one of his personal favorites. "Not the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's Deadshot."
Outside of his top and bottom three, it's clear Mewes knows a thing or two about DC Comics characters, probably as much (if not more) than the actors who actually play them in adapted form on screen. He's an actor, so it begs the question — would he ever want to suit up to play a DC Comics hero or villain himself?
"I would say no," Mewes said. "[But] I'm not saying I would turn them down."
On top of checking out Jason Mewes' directorial debut Madness in the Method, out now via video on demand, you can also see him in the upcoming View Askewniverse sequel Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, touring the United States in a roadshow format starting on October 15.