Aquaman: The Trench: Comic Book Monsters Who Deserve Their Own Movies

Aquaman is getting a spinoff! Admittedly, it's not the spinoff we expected. Instead of a Mera or Black Manta film, we're actually getting a movie about the Trench, the monstrous creatures and current residents of a lost Kingdom of Atlantis. While this is definitely a surprising development, it is pretty exciting. A Trench movie opens the door to a new world of comic book movies, where monsters can headline films instead of superheroes. With that in mind, we compiled a list of other fantastic comic book monsters that deserve their own horror movies, and we wrote it down for your reading pleasure. Sharpen those claws and bear those fangs, because here are 10 comic book monsters who deserve ‘The Trench’ treatment.

Symbiotes

By the box office numbers that last year’s Venom hit, we can venture a pretty safe guess that we’ll be seeing Marvel’s Lethal Protector back on screen soon.

But what about his family? Venom introduced us to several more symbiote creatures, and some of their fates were left open-ended at the end of the film. So, why not bring all of them back in a nightmarish horror film? This would be an awesome opportunity for Sony to cash in on the monstrosity of the symbiotes while keeping Venom’s slightly heroic nature intact. Plus, it would be a great opportunity for Carnage to headline a film, and that’s just a good idea all around.

Talons

Greg Capullo and Scott Snyder’s New 52 Batman run introduced comic book fans to a lot of new pieces of Batman lore. One of those pieces was the Court of Owls. The Court of Owls is an Illuminati-like secret society controlling Gotham from the shadows. And they control Gotham through their undead assassins, the Talons. A Talon movie would be both conspiratorial and action-packed, with all the fights of a Mission: Impossible and all the deadly secrets of a Da Vinci code. Plus, the Talons themselves could make for some great make-up based monsters, as they are basically ninja zombies who live on ice-blood. Or, in less scientific terms, my ex-romantic partners.

Parademons

Just like The Trench, Parademons are already a part of the DCEU. Also like the Trench, they mostly served as cannon-fodder for a film’s protagonists but could be much, much scarier in a different light. After all, Parademons are essentially heralds of Darkseid.

Wherever they are, he will be shortly, and that is a truly frightening concept. Darkseid is a ruthless and evil god, a Cthulhu-level threat to mere mortals like you and I. Putting him in the background of a Parademons horror movie would not only get comic book fans excited, it would have casual fans chomping at the bit to find out who and what the evilest being in the history of comics is.

The Gentry

Alright comic book fans, here’s an obscure one for you. In a recent DC Comics storyline, Multiversity, comics legend Grant Morrison introduced readers to one of the scariest things DC Comics has ever cooked up. It was called the Gentry, and it’s an assemblage of extra-dimensional beings bent on the destruction of our world. But here’s the really scary part: the Gentry travel between realities simply by being in a story. When an audience views them, they exit the fictional realm and enter the real one. Think about that as the premise to a horror film, just watching it would make the monsters real.

On second thought, maybe Warner Bros. should steer clear of making this one...

The Plague Of Frogs

Hellboy is finally on his way back to theaters this April. And with him, the many fantastic monsters that appear in his universe. There are a lot of candidates for best monster from that series, but we have to admit that we want one in a movie more than the others. Named after the famous B.P.R.D. story that shares its name, that’s the Plague of Frogs.

The Plague of Frogs is a ferocious group of Lovecraftian horrors, sent to earth with an apocalyptic mission from truly evil forces. Mike Mignola has already mentioned that he’d love a Hellboy Cinematic Universe, and we think that the Plague of Frogs would make for a great first group-monster spinoff.

The Brood

Love xenomorphs but hate Ridley Scott? Boy, do we have an idea for you. The Brood are a type of malicious alien entity originating in the X-Men comics. Their monstrous appearance and connection to the established world could make them an excellent addition to MCU canon.

Heck, they could even feature as an eventual Big Bad, perhaps sometime after the X-Men are officially introduced into the MCU. It would be cool to actually eat a horror-leaning X-film, especially since it looks like New Mutants will remain in a basement for the rest of our lives.

Marvel Zombies

Yes, we know that out of everything on this list, we are least likely to get a Marvel Zombies movie. Marvel is currently loving the success of its upbeat-leaning Cinematic Universe, and to introduce something as dire and depressing as a zombie apocalypse would be much darker than what they’re used to. (Then again, so would killing Spider-Man, but look how that turned out.) Still, there’s definitely an opportunity for an alternate-universe storyline about the zombie apocalypse sweeping the Marvel Comics Universe, even if it were just a TV series. After all, isn’t Disney using Hulu for Marvel’s more “adult” shows? We assume that means there will be more Deadpool-like humor, but Deadpool-like gore isn’t out of the question either.

Black Lanterns

Speaking of zombified versions of popular comic book characters, these horrifying abominations of our favorite DC superheroes would make for some awesome creature-feature creeps. Of course, many fans would argue that there would have to be a Green Lantern Film first. And while we do agree that it would make a lot more sense that way, we think there might be a way to pull off a Black Lantern series on TV. After all, we’ve seen a couple of deaths on the CW DC shows, why couldn’t they come back as Black Lanterns? This plot could make for a great season of whatever show CW would like to apply it to. Or, again, it could make for a super creepy sequel in a Green Lantern franchise. Either way.

The Monster Society Of Evil

With Shazam! hitting theaters this April, you'll probably be hearing a lot about his archnemesis, Black Adam. And rightfully so, Black Adam is one of the most badass characters in DC Comics, plus he might eventually be the Rock. (We still don't know.)

However, there's a troupe of monsters in Shazam's rogues gallery that also deserve their own film, albeit a lighter one than Black Adam. In fact, The Monster Society of Evil are very G-rated villains, created at a time when comic book censorship was a lot stricter than it is now. Still, a Monster Society movie would be a ton of fun. Just maybe a little bit closer to Despicable Me than it is Venom.

Now there's a crossover we'd pay to see.

Skrulls

With their MCU debut just weeks away in Captain Marvel, you’re going to be seeing a lot more Skrulls in your day to day life. The green, elven-eared villains are sure to be massive hits in Captain Marvel and beyond, but just how popular will they get? Could it be they eventually warrant their own movie? It’s certainly not unthinkable.

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After all, Marvel is never a studio to turn down an opportunity to capitalize on a character’s popularity. And even if they didn’t get a movie made, the Skrulls could at least feature on a Disney+ MCU spinoff series. It would be like The Americans meets X-Men’s Mystique; and you can count us 100% in for that.

Which comic book monsters do you think deserve the Trench treatment? Which is your favorite of this list? Let us know in the comments section below!