The DC Movie Character 27% Of People Really Want To See Less Of
Consider that, in the last ten years, we've had three different big screen Batmen, and those are just the ones we know of. Who knows how many more Bruces Wayne have been committed to film without our knowledge? He's like the Bye Bye Man of superheroes. Think his name, and he shall appear. And did you know that his parents died? It's true, they got shot in an alley. There's probably footage of that around here somewhere.
Turn the clock back a little further and you'll see an even bleaker pattern start to emerge. Since 1991, we've been averaging one new Batman every five years — and that's only counting the ones from theatrically released movies. Factor in your Gothams and your Titans, your cameos in Powerless and Birds of Prey and Batwoman and so on, and the picture gets even more dour. Add voice actors to the mix and you'll have Batmen that outnumber the stars themselves, with double that amount of dead parents. The entertainment landscape is speckled with pointy little ears and dramatic slow-motion pearl necklaces hitting the pavement behind the Monarch Theater.
With that in mind, Looper put out a poll recently, asking 528 respondents across these United States to weigh in on which DC movie character they'd like to bench for a while. It was an embattled discussion, but we battened down the hatches and managed to drum up a consensus. The answer?
It was Harley Quinn.
Sorry, Harley
Yes, Harley Quinn, who has appeared in two-going-on-three live action movies in the last, uh, ever, has been voted the DC Extended Universe Character that fans would most like to see take a breather for a while. The esteemed Doctor Quinzel managed to pull a little over 27% of the votes cast with less than four hours of screentime to her name. While Harley has seen a definite uptick in popularity in the last few years, becoming DC's biggest commercial draw in comic book format, it appears that folks are ready to let her take a load off for a minute.
Following right behind Harley was her on-again off-again puddin', the Joker, who took just under 25% of the vote after five years of everyone living in a society filled with Jared Leto entertainment news headlines. Weirdly, the Flash came in third, despite having only co-starred in one movie and made cameos in two others. Perhaps the star that runs twice as fast grates twice as quickly.
Fourth place went to the last son of Krypton, with Superman landing 12.7% of the vote, which left last place, uncannily, to Batman. Yes, of the characters listed, audiences were most excited by the prospect of more Batman. In their defense, there's so much more backstory to dig into there. What are his motivations? What's his favorite animal? Are his parents still alive or nah? With any luck, we'll find out soon enough.