The pre-James Gunn DC Universe is a gnarled fishing line of a mess. It’s a tangle of canceled sequels, a bowed-out Batman, mixed reviews, and a weak box office. Not to mention a tenuous fandom that had to literally petition to pry the completed version of Justice League from Warner Brothers. The DCU’s struggles have been especially glaring in the face of the neatly executed and linear Marvel Cinematic Universe. The line of demarcation for the DCU’s troubles is undoubtedly the failure of the patchwork, butchered Justice League in 2017. But in the intervening five years, Marvel is still cranking out hit after hit. The MCU planned and trained for the marathon, while a winded and clumsy DC sprinted to catch up.

But the DC films haven’t all been a botch job. Adding to the chaos were the disembodied, though excellent, Joker and The Batman. These two standalones have no connection to the DCU at large, existing in their own universes with a brand-new Batman and two Jokers. Where do these films fit in, if anywhere? We have our answer with the announcement of DC Elseworlds, inspired by DC’s equivalent to Marvel’s What If?… comics line and animated series.

Elseworlds drops characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman into different time periods, timelines, and origin stories, and makes for extremely compelling reads. The Batman: Part II, Joker: Folie a Deux, and others will add to this catalog, along with several other animated and live-action projects. It’s an excellent strategy to justify the existence of the extra-DCU films and adds to the library going forward. Here are some Elseworlds comics that deserve live-action or animated adaptations in the newly minted DCU.

Speeding Bullets

     DC Comics

We all know Superman’s origin story. An alien infant is sealed in an escape ship moments before his home planet of Krypton self-destructs. He’s launched into the void and lands in a field in Kansas. He’s brought up by the Kent family as Clark, a small-town American kid. Speeding Bullets mostly sticks to that story, but just changes the landing spot.

Instead of a Midwest cornfield, Kal-El’s craft crash lands in Gotham City, discovered by a childless Thomas and Martha Wayne. The couple adopts him, names him Bruce, and raises him as their own, right up until an alleyway encounter with a thug named Joe Chill. Chill guns down the couple, and young Bruce, in a rage, melts off the mugger’s face with his heat vision. He suppresses the memory of his powers until he’s forced to use them again to save Alfred years later. He adopts the mantle and mission of Batman, costume and all, while adding in Superman’s powers.

The story is tailor-made for adaptation. It has a simple but powerful premise full of potential. The original comic is a slim volume but could be expanded upon into a series if Gunn and company don’t want to go the animated movie route. It could make for a live-action series but would have to be a pretty big-budget affair. Though it wouldn’t exactly be an even match with a super-powered Batman taking on the Rogues’ Gallery, so a close adaptation of the comic is probably the answer.

Batman and Dracula Trilogy

This one sounds like a reach, but is really one of the better Batman stories ever told. In an alternate DC reality, Dracula and his underlings are picking off Gotham’s homeless and feeding on their blood. Batman, realizing he can’t defeat this threat in his human form, becomes a vampire to take on this army of the night. The story then shifts to his struggle to control his thirst for blood in his new immortal coil.

This story would make an excellent three-part movie, similar to how animated Batman: The Dark Knight Returns was split into two films and released months apart. The very basis of the story challenges everything that Batman stands for: justice without crossing the line. He’s forced to let his baser instincts take over to save the city. Plus it’s a great fit for the modern-day no-holds-barred, not-for-kids animated features in the vein of The Dark Knight Returns and Flashpoint Paradox.

Batman: Brotherhood of the Bat

     Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Before Damien Wayne, we had Tallant, the child of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. The story is set decades after the death of Bruce Wayne, when Ra’s al Ghul has gotten his wish: an Earth nearly devoid of human life thanks to an engineered plague. He commands a squad of assassins, each donning a suit design rejected by the original Batman. Enter Tallant, who seeks to pick up where his father left off and defeat al Ghul and his minions.

This story combines two outstanding genres: Batman and the post-apocalypse. Plus it takes the gutsy route of a world where Batman was actually defeated and didn’t get back up. No Jean-Paul Valley taking on Bane while Bruce Wayne healed from a broken back. No Dick Grayson filling in for a lost-in-time Batman. Batman is gone, and someone needs to take up his cause to save the world.

Honorable Mentions

     Marvel Studios

There are dozens of DC Elseworlds stories that could be adapted into the big or small screen, live-action or animated. As prolific as the Gunn DCU is aiming to be, they can’t cover all of them, but there are a few other good ones that deserve a look: Justice League: The Nail, I, Joker, and the DC/Marvel crossovers such as Batman/Daredevil: King of New York (with Gunn leaving Marvel on good terms, we can dream).

Elseworlds comics provide settings ripe for adaptation, or even original stories. DC’s heroes can only save the modern world so many times. No matter which stories Gunn and company adapt, Elseworlds will be a challenging viewing experience for DC fans.