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The 7 best (and 6 worst) Arrowverse villains

The Arrowverse has presented us with plenty of villains over the years, but which of its big bads stole the show and which ones fell a little short?

By Michael Patterson

Arrow -- "Deathstroke Returns" -- Image AR605b_0253b.jpg -- Pictured: Manu Bennett as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke -- Photo: Cate Cameron/The CW -- © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Arrow -- "Deathstroke Returns" -- Image AR605b_0253b.jpg -- Pictured: Manu Bennett as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke -- Photo: Cate Cameron/The CW -- © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. /
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Batwoman, Alice, Arrowverse villains
Batwoman — “Pick Your Poison” — Image Number: BWN307b_0305r — Pictured: Rachel Skarsten as Alice — Photo: Colin Bentley/The CW — © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. /

Alice

When Batwoman premiered on The CW, Alice was an inevitable choice for the first big bad. In DC Comics, she is considered the Scarlet Knight’s archenemy in the same way that The Joker is considered Batman’s archenemy. Adding to that, she is the sister of Kate Kane, meaning that the story between them would be a personal one. And as we’ve seen in the past with the Arrowverse shows, the richest villains are always those with personal ties to the heroes.

A rich villain is exactly what we got with Alice. With a solid motivation for wanting to cause the chaos that she did, and a disturbingly gleeful delight when she caused said chaos, it was exhilarating to watch her from week to week. The main reason for that was undoubtedly Rachel Skarsten’s magnetic performance, as she not only played the unhinged character extremely well, she brought nuance to the role and ensured we never saw Alice as a caricature.

Alice was a believable villain in the world of Batwoman imbued with depth. You never knew what emotions she would make you feel, but you did know that she would make you feel something. And her redemption arc was undoubtedly one of the very best the small screen has ever seen.

We’re not surprised she stuck around after the first season’s story concluded, because the show would have been worse off without her.

Verdict: BEST

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