Although the DC Extended Universe isn’t quite as established as the MCU yet, it still has a whole host of talented actors to showcase. Many more big actors are also champing at the bit to get involved with the DCEU. Below is a list of ten great movies starring various actors from the DC Extended Universe.
1. Stardust (Henry Cavill & Mark Strong)
Yep, Henry Cavill was in Matthew Vaughn’s fantastic fairy-tale movie, Stardust. In a pretty minor role, however. He played Humphrey, the boyfriend of Sienna Miller, who was the girl Charlie Cox tried to impress at the beginning of the film. As unimportant as his character is, this is a great movie and one you should check out regardless. Full of witches, pirates and a cross-dressing Robert de Niro. Oh, and Shazam’s Dr Sivana himself (Mark Strong) plays a surprisingly handsome prince.
2. We Need to Talk About Kevin (Ezra Miller)
The Flash plays a very different character in this dark psychological thriller. Directed by Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here), Miller plays Kevin, a teenage boy who has committed a school massacre. His mother (Tilda Swinton) forces herself to come to terms with what her son does and looks back on his childhood to see what went wrong. Basically the film that brought Ezra Miller into the acting world, We Need To Talk About Kevin is a film rooted in its strong central performances. Be warned: this is not light viewing.
3. The Way Back (Ben Affleck)
A fairly recent movie that has now worked its way onto VOD, The Way Back showcases Ben Affleck’s best performance. Although he is the Batman we didn’t know we needed, Affleck has also had a wide, varied career. However, he’s also had his fair share of personal issues, including alcoholism. Instead of shying away from it, Affleck chooses to face his issues head on in this movie. Playing an alcoholic basketball coach, Affleck shows us a side we’ve never seen before and is determined to prove that hope can be found anywhere.
4. Nocturnal Animals (Amy Adams & Michael Shannon)
Man of Steel heavyweights Amy Adams and Michael Shannon back up talents Jake Gyllenhaal and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in this thriller. Adams plays Sharon Morrow, an art gallery owner, who has received a novel from her ex-husband (Gyllenhaal). Upon reading it, the story of the characters play out onscreen and Sharon begins to draw comparisons to her real-life relationship. Although Adams is the crux of the plot, the entertainment comes from the novel itself. It tells of a man (also Gyllenhaal) who has had his wife and daughter kidnapped from him. He teams up with Michael Shannon’s detective, in order to find his family.
5. Outlaw King (Chris Pine, Callan Mulvey & James Cosmo)
An overlooked Netflix gem, Outlaw King is a sort-of sequel to Braveheart, but enjoyable in its own right. Chris Pine plays Robert the Bruce who, after William Wallace’s rebellion failed, decides to star up his own revolution. Although it is littered with historical inaccuracies, it’s hard not to find the bloody, muddy battles engrossing and Pine is a solid lead. Helped in part by a great supporting cast, including Florence Pugh and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Pine elevates Outlaw King from being a bland medieval bore. Totally worth checking out if you’re a Braveheart fan.
6. I, Tonya (Margot Robbie)
I, Tonya is a biopic with a difference. It plays like a black comedy and tells the story of figure skater Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) and debates whether or not she was involved in the assault of her rival, Nancy Kerrigan. Robbie’s performance is great, but what works even better is the style. Rather than allowing itself to be a typical biopic, director Craig Gillespie keeps us entertained. The film is dotted with hilarious moments, ridiculous contradictions and mockumentary style interviews that harken back to The Office. I, Tonya tells an interesting story but it also chooses to tell it in a hugely entertaining and refreshing way. This movie is also great for Sebastian Stan fans.
7. Tangled (Zachary Levi)
Superior to Frozen in almost every way is Disney’s take on the story of Rapunzel. Mandy Moore portrays Rapunzel, a young girl who has been locked in a tower under the pretence the outside world is a horrible place. However, the arrival of Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi aka Shazam!) changes all that and Rapunzel is shown the truth of her existence. As well as being a classic Disney story that features catchy songs and great jokes, Zachary Levi cements himself as one of the best Disney princes. If you can call him a prince, that is.
8. The Social Network (Jesse Eisenberg)
The origin story of social networking site, Facebook, doesn’t sound like a particularly great idea for a movie. However, with director David Fincher, writer Aaron Sorkin and star Jesse Eisenberg, things suddenly start to seem a lot better. Fincher is one of the best directors of our generation and does not disappoint. Eisenberg’s performance as Mark Zuckerberg offers us one of the most controversial heroes of modern cinema. But it is Sorkin’s screenplay that takes this to another level. With intense, crack-whip dialogue, the films flies along at an astonishing rate. And it is as far from boring as it can get.
9. 10 Cloverfield Lane (Mary Elisabeth Winstead)
The Cloverfield Cinematic Universe is one that is developing at a rate we’re not even sure of. Any film can be added into the franchise at a moment’s notice, but it’s going to be hard to top its second entry. 10 Cloverfield Lane pushes the sci-fi element to one side and instead decides to focus on the story of a young woman (Winstead), who has been rescued from a car crash by two men. The men (John Goodman and John Gallagher Jr) keep her in an underground bunker, insistent that the world has ended. Obviously, Winstead has no idea whether they’re telling the true and the story divulges from her deciding if she can trust these men or not. A great low-budget concept with a stellar cast and an intriguing look on the events of Cloverfield.
10. Enemy of the State (Will Smith)
Will Smith’s filmography has been dotted with great highs and severe lows. Enemy of the State is one of his best performances and is a stone-cold classic. The story is about the cover-up of a murder plot carried out by National Security Agents and plays very much on the political thriller angle. Paranoia abounds and Smith’s character, Robert Clayton Dean, is caught right in the middle of it. Directed by the late Tony Scott (Top Gun and True Romance), Enemy of the State is truly a thriller ahead of its time.
