DChas huge plans for 2025, including many exciting villains coming to both the big and small screens, and one antagonist has shown up in DC’s second TV show of the year, making their second-ever villain appearance. James Gunn’s plans for DC started last December withCreature Commandos. The TV-MA animated series introduced many characters, helping populate theDCU’s Chapter Onewith heroes and villains alike. That seems to be the norm for the start of the franchise.2025 will see another DCU TV show as Gunn’sPeacemakerreturns for season 2.
However, the DCU is not the only focus for DC Studios. While the shared universe is certainly important, Gunn has explained multiple times thatElseworlds movies and showswill also continue to be developed. That new DC label focuses on projects that exist outside the canon of the new DC Universe.Releasing betweenCreature CommandosandPeacemakerseason 2 is a DC seriesthat puts a fresh spin on many classic characters. Like the DCU, the second DC series of 2025 also focuses on an expansive world of DC characters, and that has led to a villain making history.
2025 Just Brought 1 Underrated DC Villain On-Screen Once More
DC Studios Continues To Thrive With Animated Series
It is interesting that afterCreature Commandos, DC’s next project happens to be another TV-MA animated series. Developed before the current DC Studios regime,Harley Quinnseason 5 bridges the gap between DCU releases, and the show does an admirable job of including as many DC characters as it can. Over its four previous seasons,Harley Quinnused many Batman villains, like the Joker and Clayface, as well as DC antagonists in general, going from the likes of smaller players like Golden Glider to major characters like Reverse-Flash and Darkseid.
Harley Quinn Season 5 Episode 2 Recap, Easter Eggs And Ending Explained
Harley Quinn Season 5, episode 2 features Harley and Ivy’s new lives in Metropolis, including a major surprise from Ivy’s past and a dark cliffhanger.
Harley Quinnseason 5 follows that formula, bringing both major villains, like the Superman foe Brainiac, and smaller characters. The latter is the category that Jason Woodrue falls into. However, he plays a crucial role. Like in the comics, Woodrue’s role inHarley Quinnseason 5, episode 2, has to do with Poison Ivy’s origin. It is revealed that they were in a relationship when Woodrue betrayed Pamela and tried to kill her. She survived by injecting herself with a drug that made her Poison Ivy, and in the present,Ivy ends up turning Jason Woodrue into the Floronic Man.
The Floronic Man’s DC History Is Seriously Lacking In The On-Screen Department
The Character Appeared In A Short-Lived DC Series
The latestHarley Quinnepisode spends a good time setting up the bitter past between Poison Ivy and Jason Woodrue. With Ivy’s revenge backfiring, as she intended for Woodrue to die, not transform into the Floronic Man, the character is bound to be a major threat to her as he tries to get some revenge of his own. The animated series brings along a great role for a villain who has otherwise barely appeared in DC movies and TV shows over the years, asHarley Quinnmarks only the second time the Floronic Man has appeared in full form.
Prior to the animated series, Jason Woodrue appeared in a live-action DC movie and a series. However, he only turned into the Floronic Man in one of those. In 1997’sBatman & Robin, Jason Woodrue was played bySmallville’s John Glover. The character wanted to create an army of Venom-powered soldiers, starting with Bane. BeforeHarley Quinnseason 5,the live-actionSwamp Thingseries made historyby being the first DC movie or TV show to feature Jason Woodrue as the Floronic Man. However, the series was canceled after one season right after Woodrue became Floronic Man at the end.
Why The Floronic Man Has Been Adapted So Few Times
DC Has A Wide Array Of Villains At Its Disposal
The explanation for why Jason Woodrue, aka the Floronic Man, has not been used much in DC movies and TV shows is quite simple. Among the reasons for that is the fact that the character is not a major villain. Whilehe has fought the Justice Leagueand more in the comics, the plant-based villain is not exactly the most thrilling choice to serve as the villain of a Batman or Wonder Woman movie, for instance. Those characters have more established foes in their rogues' gallery that work better.
The other key aspect behind the lack of Jason Woodrue in DC movies and series is related to the characters who are most closely tied to him. In the comics,the biggest characters whose stories intertwine with the Floronic Man are Poison Ivy and Swamp Thing. The two characters, who are more lead role material than Jason Woodrue, have also only appeared sporadically in DC projects. Woodrue’s three on-screen appearances are all tied to either Swamp Thing or Poison Ivy, so without the characters leading projects likeHarley Quinnseason 5, theDCcharacter is likely to be forgotten.
Harley Quinn
Cast
Harley Quinn is a 2019 animated series focusing on the titular character’s evolution after severing ties with the Joker. As she seeks to establish herself as an independent force in Gotham City’s criminal underworld, the film explores her journey toward becoming Gotham’s criminal Queenpin.
