DC Comics made a habit of changing status quo for a long time. In fact, the DC Multiverse's first major shock to the system didn't come until 1985's Crisis On Infinite Earths. Since then, the publisher has experimented with multiple status quos, changing the game for countless classic characters. Sometimes, these new status quos have even been more successful than what came before.
Other times, these status quo changes don't fit the characters or sometimes even the DC Multiverse. Several heroes have suffered mediocre status quos, ones that have forced readers to evacuate from their favorites. They need to be restored to former status quos, putting classic characters back in a place where fans were actually comfortable with them.
10 Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel had a big year in 2022, becoming the champion of Shazam and battling great threats. Mary getting a chance on the big stage was sensational, but her book ended with her losing her powers. It was a perplexing thing to do with a character everyone was happy got upgraded. Not only did Mary not get to keep her greater position, but she didn't even get to keep her powers.
This definitely isn't going to be the case forever, especially with Shazam bringing up the fact that Mary and Freddie Freeman didn't have their powers anymore. That said, fans are already tired of characters getting a brief moment to shine only to have their limelight ripped away like nothing mattered. DC needs to bring Mary back and fully powered.
9 Red Tornado
Red Tornado was originally a Justice League enemy, but was able to break his programming and become a member. He fell in love with a human woman, got married, and the two adopted a child. He spent years with the League, but fell off the map for years after leaving, joining groups that no one remembers like the New Guardians.
Red Tornado returned to the Justice League, but that stint ended with him dropping out of sight. Reddy is a cool tank of a character, with a nice status quo as a robot trying to be human. He's a devilishly simple character, which is more than enough to bring him back to the League or a related team.
8 Sandman IV
Sandman IV was once Sandy the Golden Boy – sidekick to the original Sandman – then Sands while he led the Justice Society. It's always a big deal when a sidekick takes over for their mentor, but Sandy's never really done anything special as Sandman. He has a cool costume and presence, but he was much more useful to the team as Sands.
Being Sands was the best time of his life. He was leader of the Justice Society and his geokinetic powers made him an extremely formidable hero. Being Sandman is still important, but there has to be a way to mix the status quos of Sandman and Sands, so the hero would finally have something to do again.
7 Azrael
Azrael is one of DC's most brutal warriors. He earned Batman's respect to the point where Bruce chose him to take over as the Dark Knight after Bane's attack. Azrael was completely derailed by his time as Batman. Jean-Paul Valley's weaknesses were put on full display and he never really recovered.
Valley's time as Batman will always be an albatross around his neck, but that doesn't mean he can't be successful. Azrael worked best when he was just the overly violent vigilante. It's a simple status quo DC could easily bring back with little to no issues. Edgy vigilantes aren't really in style, but it just works when it's Azrael.
6 Martian Manhunter
Martian Manhunter came from the red planet, pulled to Earth by a scientist's machine. J'onn J'onzz decided that he would use his natural abilities to help humanity. He started life as a detective named John Jones, but eventually joined the nascent superhero community as Martian Manhunter – helping found the Justice League and becoming the team's most prolific member.
Martian Manhunter was replaced on the Justice League in the New 52 by Cyborg, and has been adrift ever since. Martian Manhunter belongs on the Justice League. DC needs to remember that and keep the Martian on the team. J'onn's a great Leaguer, an experienced and powerful hero who is the team's most useful member.
5 Firestorm
Firestorm is devastatingly powerful. Professor Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond combined to form the Firestorm matrix. This gifted the composite pair with superhuman strength, durability, flight, energy projection, and, most importantly, the ability to control molecules and elements. Always known for being the brash, young member of the Justice League, he eventually fell from the spotlight.
Firestorm has also been a combination of Jason Rausch and Stein, as well as Rausch and his girlfriend and Raymond and Rausch. He had a brief comeback in the mid-'00s, but didn't have long term staying power. Firestorm is a fun part of the DC Multiverse, and all DC needs to do is find a way to make the original status quo work.
4 Red Hood
Red Hood is a tenacious vigilante, and always has been. Even as Robin, Jason was ready to go to extremes. His death lasted for years, but he returned as the Red Hood, retrained by Talia al Ghul, and sought revenge against the Joker and Batman. Jason Todd would eventually rejoin the Bat-Family, but was always the black sheep.
During this time, Jason helmed his own book, then led the Outlaws. Red Hood made appearances all over the place and was pretty popular. However, he's since come to terms with his pain, which feels like a huge mistake. Red Hood was more fun as the mouthy, too violent vigilante who needled every member of the Bat-Family.
3 Darkseid
Darkseid is the God Of Evil, but the last time he was scary was in 2008. Final Crisis found a way to turn Darkseid into a monster, the embodiment of cold, vile evil. Since then, Darkseid's rarely been that great. Too many writers use him as a powerful big bad, but that's not just what Darkseid is. He was created by Jack Kirby to be something special.
Darkseid is the lord of Apokolips, the worst place in the universe. He is majestic malice, a being who believes that all should worship him. Darkseid doesn't get his hands dirty unless he needs to. He's not a villain who shows up during whatever big event is happening and gets beat by the newest baddie; he's a threat unlike any other, waiting in the background. Darkseid is.
2 Black Adam
Black Adam's gods-given abilities made him a hero in the past. After leaving the Earth, he recently returned as a villain, battling Shazam. Eventually, he decided that he wanted to be a hero again and joined the Justice Society. This ended when he convinced a group of heroes to help him violently free Kahndaq. After that, he slotted into a great status quo.
Adam turned into a villainous ruler who didn't think he was a villain. He truly believed he was doing the right thing, and always ended up helping the villains. Black Adam is at his best when he thinks he's a hero, but really he's just monster waiting to happen. This is way cooler than anti-hero Black Adam and should just be the default.
1 Batman
Batman is DC's biggest icon in the 2020s. The Caped Crusader's status quo rarely if ever changes, but readers are now in one of those unique periods when Batman isn't the same he's always been. Joker found a way to implicate Bruce Wayne for embezzling based on his Batman expenditures, and made it so that he didn't have access to the money and resources of Wayne Enterprises.
Bruce doesn't live in Wayne Manor anymore, so he doesn't even have access to the Batcave. This seems like it would be interesting, but Batman never seems any different. It doesn't really feel like anything is actually missing. DC should just give him his money, resources, and home back. Since they aren't willing to go far enough, they shouldn't do it at all.