50 Greatest Super Villains In Comic Book History

39. Deadshot

(Write-up by Nick Tylwalk, Bam Smack Pow Editor)

Talk about getting a second chance at life. Deadshot started out as one of the lamest Batman villains imaginable: a dude with a tuxedo, a top hat, a domino mask and twin revolvers. Somehow, I don’t think he gave the Dark Knight any sleepless nights.

It’s amazing what a costume change and a more fully fleshed out personality will do for a guy. Sporting one of the more distinctive and just plain cool costumes in all of super hero comics, Floyd Lawson also went from wannabe mob boss to unfailing assassin. Plus he had some quirks that couldn’t help but set him apart; namely a death wish and an unexplained tendency to pull his shots around Batman, making him the one person he couldn’t kill.

That would probably be enough to get him on this list, but Lawton also ended up in the book that made it acceptable to root for the bad guys, Suicide Squad. He really came into his own there, proving that if written well, even a seemingly consciousless killer can be an effective protagonist. Casting typical good guy and mega-star Will Smith as Deadshot will likely only make Lawson more likable.

We’ve even seen Deadshot on Arrow, but even though his costume is looking more like what we’ve grown to love in print, it’s still not exactly the same. This is one villain who no longer needs the clothes to make the man, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still wish for that silver mask and red targeting eyepiece to someday make the jump to the screen.

And remember, for all you writers still coming up with new super villains, wrist guns and metal mask good, tuxedo and top hat bad.

Next: No. 38: The true watcher of the Watchmen