DC's Second 2025 Show Just Brought 1 Villain On-Screen For The 2nd Time Ever In Their 49-Year-Long History

DC has 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 with Creature Commandos. The TV-MA animated series introduced many characters, helping populate the DCU's Chapter One with 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's Peacemaker returns 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 that Elseworlds movies and shows will also continue to be developed. That new DC label focuses on projects that exist outside the canon of the new DC Universe. Releasing between Creature Commandos and Peacemaker season 2 is a DC series that 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 after Creature Commandos, DC's next project happens to be another TV-MA animated series. Developed before the current DC Studios regime, Harley Quinn season 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 Quinn used 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 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 in Harley Quinn season 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 latest Harley Quinn episode 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, as Harley Quinn marks 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's Batman & Robin, Jason Woodrue was played by Smallville's John Glover. The character wanted to create an army of Venom-powered soldiers, starting with Bane. Before Harley Quinn season 5, the live-action Swamp Thing series made history by 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. While he has fought the Justice League and 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 like Harley Quinn season 5, the DC character is likely to be forgotten.