Saleem's Top Favorite TV Scenes (Comic Book Shows | DC)

On this glorious list of awesome TV moments, we venture through the world of comic book television series that centers exclusively around DC Comics. Expect to see the majority of this list centering around crazy costumed characters and superpower spectacles amongst other things of that nature.

[Recently Updated]

Superman & Lois

Honorable Mentions

Season 3

1. Superman Vs. Bizzaro-Doomsday

"Despite being slightly mixed on the design and CGI animation of this adaptation of Doomsday, I absolutely loved the fact that this show was able to portray this iconic Superman battle with this season. The cinematic presentation and scope surrounding the fight was top notch keeping with the show’s amazing production values and the stakes were certainly felt with Superman's life being put into question with Doomsday's threat level."

Titans

Season 1

1. Batman Slaughters The GCPD & Kori

"Seeing this alternate darker and more brutal version of Batman utterly massacre an entire police force led by an ex Robin was the stuff of wishful thinking after reading an awesome comic book story. This was one of the most geek out worthy action sequences in a superhero TV series yet."

Honorable Mentions

Season 2

1. Robin Vs. Deathstroke

"With Deathstroke being one of my all time favorite DC Comics villains, I was absolutely hyped to see him in action during Season 2 of Titans. The church fight scene was the closest that I got to fulfilling that excitement as we got to see Slade's badass combat skills in full effect. Showing him utilize various weapons to counter and takedown Robin checked off all the right boxes for me."

Season 4

2. Beast Boy Discovers The New DC Multiverse

"In one of the strongest character centered episodes of the series, we see Beast Boy uncovering the source of his shapeshifting powers and accidentally tapping into the multiverse. This is where the series gets to follow up on the Arrowverse's Crisis crossover giving us some fun cameo appearances establishing the new DC Multiverse. My only nitpick is that I wished we could've seen more guest appearance interactions as opposed to mostly TV screen clip shows ."

Stargirl

Season 1

1. The New JSA Vs. The ISA

"Stargirl highly succeeds in gifting its fans with quite the final battle paying off its season long conflict between the new JSA and the ISA in an all-out brawl. There are so many things to love and admire during this fight from the great production values and excellent choreography behind the superpowers and melee combat elements as well as getting to see S.T.R.I.P.E. and Hourman take on Grundy (despite the questionable CGI on the creature) in addition to Shiv’s release."

 

Season 2

2. The New JSA Vs. The New ISA

"Everything that I loved about the fight choreography, dynamic camera work, and individual character spotlight sensibilities of Season 1’s fight scenes are elevated to new heights here. This is also the most extensive and visceral battle on the show yet specifically surrounding the Hourman vs Artemis segments."

Honorable Mentions

 

Season 1

1. The New JSA Vs. Sportsmaster & Tigress

"Stargirl delivers its first awesome fight scene successfully conveying everything that it needed to regarding our superhero recruits' current inexperience taking on established high ranked villains. The action choreography was highly entertaining seeing the ISA's villain couple completely dominate with their unique skillset and superb coordination."

 

Season 2

2. Eclipso Emerges From A Painting To Attack The JSA

"It surprises me how a show like Stargirl can convey legitimately freaky cosmic horror. The tension racking atmosphere of the paint splattered and dimly lit art studio paired with the foreboding black diamond images leads up to a truly eye popping visual. We see Eclipso emerge from a painting like some dimensional demon spawn ripping through into our reality...and it's pretty damn awesome."

Season 3

1. Starman Vs. Sportsmaster & Tigress

"Stargirl proves yet again why it's the CW's best action series in regards to delivering excitement worthy standout fight scenes. Seeing Starman take on Sportsmaster and Tigress in a grocery store all without their costumes may sound dull on paper, but the fight choreography and use of environmental acrobatics perfectly utilizes the grounded setting and character appearances to full entertaining effect."

The Flash

Season 1

1. Barry's First Super Sonic Punch

"There's just something exciting about watching a superhero that you genuinely root for discover or achieve a new skill during a seemingly doomed battle" 

 2. Flash Rescues Collapsing Train Passengers

"The visual FX on this show can sometimes catch you off guard with how impressive they look and the train rescue sequence is definitely one of the highlighted moments to prove it"

3. Barry Vs. Reverse Flash (First Encounter)

"The fight between Barry and the Reverse Flash on its own isn't much to cheer about, but the confrontation itself was well executed and tension driven."

4. Brain Washed Flash Vs. Arrow

“This fight scene successfully gave off that feeling of a comic book television event that made fans of both Arrow & The Flash series unite in a colosseum of fun speculation and cheers"

5. Barry's First Accidental Time Travel

"One of those big climatic moments where the hero accidentally pushes his powers just a tad bit too far achieving something spectacular"

6. Grodd Forces Joe To Almost Shooting Himself

"There's something terrifying and intense about this scene that I absolutely loved. This was definitely the intimidating presentation of Gorilla Grodd that I was hoping to see."

7. Flash, Arrow, and Firestorm Vs. The Reverse Flash

"Arguably some of the best crossover character moments as far as ensemble action scenes go"

8. Flash Attempts To Stop The Singularity

"One of the most visually spectacular and grand scaled action scenes on the show thus far"

Season 2

9. King Shark's Debut Scene

"The King Shark reveal was one of those rare surprise character debuts that made my inner comic book nerd cheer with excitement"

10. Zoom Defeats The Flash

"As far as comic book TV shows go, this is by far one of the greatest villain scenes ever put to film as it truly encapsulated what makes the season villain, Zoom, such a terrifying force of power"

11. Zoom Kills Deathstorm & Reverb Before Capturing The Flash

"As if the Earth 2 doppelgängers weren't awesome enough, Zoom shows up and eliminates them in seconds furthering his intimidating presence. These are the type of overpowering villain moments that I absolutely enjoy"

12. The Flash Almost Defeats Zoom

"Such a cool fight scene overall showing Barry actually being on par with Zoom and eventually overpowering him towards the end. The moment when he jumps off of the air conditioning vent to dodge, then kick Zoom was a badass way of showing how much Barry has evolved as a fighter."

13. The Flash Vs. Zoom (Final Battle)

"Ever since we saw Zoom defeat Barry during their first encounter, I was curious to see how the show would counter that moment in Barry's favor. I was happy to see that not only does Barry utilize a new ability (a time remnant) to distract Zoom, but he also physically beats him down to submission in a visually engaging fight scene."

14. Zoom's Speed Force Transformation

"Not only was this visually one of the coolest comic book related moments that I've ever seen on TV, but it also finally granted my wish for Zoom to be presented as a dark and powerful entity of the speed force instead of your typical psychotic villain."

Season 3

15. The Flash & Green Arrow Vs. Mind Controlled Heroes

"Words cannot describe how awesome it was to see characters like Supergirl facing off against the Flash or watching the Green Arrow take on his entire team and Sara. This was exactly the type of spectacular action sequences that I was hoping to get with these crossovers.”

16. Vibe Vs. Gypsy

"Arguably the greatest fight scene conceptually speaking in the entire Arrowverse franchise as it utilizes the multiverse in a fun and interesting way."

17. Team Flash Vs. Savitar & Killer Frost

"Although a bit too brief, I absolutely loved seeing our hero speedsters chasing through a forest to take down Savitar while he throws different obstacles at them. We also get to see Gypsy and Cisco using their breach abilities to fight Killer Frost which was a fun additional battle to visually mix things up.“

Season 4

18. Devoe Exterminates An A.R.G.U.S. Security Force

"Just when I was slightly losing interest in the season villain, they decided to deliver what may just be the most badass villain scene on the show yet. The Thinker completely redeemed his title here as they show him effortlessly walking through an A.R.G.U.S. facility slaughtering an entire security force by utilizing his massive palette of metahuman powers."

Season 5

19. Oliver vs. A.M.A.Z.O.

"I found myself geeking out during the Elseworlds crossover at the sight of Oliver utilizing his newfound speedforce power to take on A.M.A.Z.O. in a spectacular chase sequence. It was awesome getting to see this DC comics villain finally make his live action debut showing off his ability to copy superpowers."

Honorable Mentions

Season 2

1. Zoom Slaughters CCPD Officers

"Zoom has several awesome moments where the villain gets to show off just how ruthless and powerful he is. One of my favorites being where Zoom decides to murder several CCPD officers at CC Jitters by snapping their necks in the blink of an eye. It's one of the greatest kill scenes on the show direction-wise."


Season 3
2. Savitar's Identity Reveal

"The swelling epic new twist on the Flash theme playing, the dramatic build up of Barry having an epiphany about himself then immediately rushing over to a specific location, and the fantastic performance by Grant Gustin playing two opposing roles makes this one of the most exciting villain reveals on the show. Took way too long to get to this scene, but when we did...it was pretty great."

Season 8
3. The Flash Vs. Despero (Final Fight) 

"Despite a few clunky CGI models of Barry showing up in the fight, we do get to see the Flash unleash an excitement worthy and visually awesome variety of attack and defensive maneuvers against Despero with his newfound upgraded powers."

4. Barry "Rides The Lightning"

"This entire scene felt like peaked Season 1 Flash where Barry unlocking new superpower capabilities felt like mini events to get hyped up around. When realizing that Deathstorm is flying too high to reach, Barry decides to try something new shooting lightning to create hovering platforms to leap off of in mid-air and boy was it a badass spectacle to witness."

Doom Patrol

Honorable Mentions

Season 2

1. The Candlemaker Attacks The Underground

"In what is by far the series' most intense villain scene, Dorothy's sinister and silent wish to the Candlemaker in opposition of Babydoll's killing of Manny leads to a spectacular and frightening action scene. Witnessing the Candlemaker's hulking and hellish appearance effortlessly invading and killing off some of Jane's personas in the Underground was jaw dropping."

Arrow

Season 1

1. Oliver Escapes Interrogation & Kills His Captors

"One of the greatest things about Season 1 of Arrow was its action choreography and Oliver's escape scene was an amazing way of showing off his skills as well as the show's amazing production value"

2. Arrow Takes On Adam Hunt's Security & Drakon

"Another badass action scene showing just how powerful Oliver comes across as a solo vigilante force of nature"

3. Oliver Vs. Mr. Blank

"Just like the interrogation escape scene, I've always enjoyed these rare but welcomed moments showing Oliver out of costume kicking some serious butt. This home invasion scene is definitely no exception."

4. Arrow Vs. Security Guards (Hallway Fight)

"One can argue that this scene mirrors the style of The Raid's fight scene, but it's still an amazing action packed moment showing Oliver taking out hordes of enemies on his own"

Season 2

5. Oliver Finds Out The Canary's Identity

"The introduction of the Canary character during Season 2 was a nice addition to the vigilante roster, but the Sara reveal twist was icing on the cake for me dramatically speaking."

6. Sara Vs. The League of Assassins (Clock Tower Fight)

"What I love about this scene is how it perfectly showcases the badass appeal of the Canary character while also weaving in the mysterious Ra's Al Ghul character by name and association"

  7. Slade Infiltrates Arrow Headquarters

"One of the greatest Deathstroke scenes on the show as it shows Slade's power level as a season villain completely dominating the Arrow team on his own"

8. Arrow, Nyssa & Sara Vs. Slade & His Forces

"Although very brief, it was pretty cool seeing the League being incorporated to fight Slade's forces despite not being a fan of Ravager's quick exit"

9. Arrow Vs. Slade (Finale)

"Although not as lengthy and two sided as I anticipated, the flashback/present day transitions was an amazing stylistic choice to see during this final battle"

Season 3

10.Captain Boomerang Vs. A.R.G.U.S. & Team Arrow

"During the Flash/Arrow crossover event, we were introduced to Captain Boomerang which sounded like a ridiculous character in name until this scene present just how badass of a mercenary he is."

 11. Ra's Al Ghul Defeats Oliver

"This is still by far the greatest villain moment in the entire Arrowverse franchise as it showcases just how powerful yet honorable Ra's Al Ghul can be as a season villain. Not only does he confidently and effortlessly defeat Oliver in a fair battle, but he also 'kills' him in a shocking twist before giving him a respectful prayer. The visual direction during this fight is also notable."

12. The Atom Takes Down A Fighter Jet

"Make as many Ironman references as you'd like, but I thought this scene worked exceptionally well both visually and as a showcase of how powerful the A.T.O.M. suit can be"

Season 5

13. Prometheus Kills Himself To Destroy Oliver

"The moment where Adrian decides to shoot himself in order to trigger an explosion potentially killing off Oliver's loved ones was one of the most shocking cliffhangers of the entire franchise. The twisted way in which he still defeats Oliver by ultimately proving his grim mentality about the hero's cursed body count made one heck of an exit for a season villain."

Season 6

14. Oliver's Perspective of the Warehouse Battle

"The entire warehouse fight scene during the Earth-X crossover was pretty solid, but it was specifically during Oliver's hazy perspective of the battle where things felt epic in scope. This is definitely one of the more visually exciting entries within Arrow's action sequences."

Season 8

15. Oliver Takes Out John Byrne's Men

"Arrow's final action sequence of the entire series so happens to be its greatest as we get one incredibly directed and extensive set piece flashing back to Season 1 Oliver's swift and badass ways of taking down waves of enemies. The action choreography and camerawork here are absolutely top notch ending the show's highly impressive entertainmentlegacy on a fittingly high note."

Honorable Mentions

Season 2

1. Slade Kills Moira Queen

"One of the more dramatically impactful deaths on the show which progressed Slade as a legitimate threat and drastically increased the tension surrounding the hero-villain conflict."

Season 3

2. Ra's Kills Thea

"Ra's Al Ghul was one of the major highlights of Season 3 for me partly due to his brief but badass moments of effortlessly dominating a fight showing just how dangerous his combat skills are. The scene where he kills Thea was a fantastic example of this while raising the stakes for our hero."

Season 4

3. Oliver Tries To Repel His Darkness

"The mysticism element of Season 4 was questionably handled, but the scene where Oliver attempts to learn how to repel Damien's magic by facing his own darkness was pretty great. The visual direction surrounding him encountering and being beaten down by past and present season villains was well crafted in addition to beautifully fitting the narrative of the lesson."

Season 5

4. Prometheus Kills Tobias Church & His Police Escort

"I love how the direction of this scene mostly focuses on audio with snippets of visual references to present the terrifying situation of Prometheus killing several officers offscreen. The camera brilliantly focuses on Tobias' paranoia leading to his eventual death making this an incredibly artistic way to fully introduce the new season villain's threat level."

5. Oliver Becomes The Hood

"Following an amazing dialogue driven scene between Oliver and Talia about becoming something else entirely, we see Oliver acquiring the hood and bow for the first time. My inner nerd wept with joy."

Season 6

6. Deathstroke Slaughters The Jackals

"Watching Deathstroke slaughter through waves of enemies by himself with only his sword and gun was by far one of the coolest action scenes on the show despite a couple of hi-cups in the direction. This was one of the highlight scenes that made fans like myself desire a spinoff series centering around Slade."

7. Diaz Kills Cayden James

"In what is by far the best Diaz scene on the show, we get to see one of my favorite things in storytelling which is the shocking twist usurping of what seems to be the main villain by another antagonist fully revealing themselves. This was a great scene effectively presenting the classic 'who is the real puppeteer pulling the strings?' concept."

8. Oliver Hallucinates Fighting Prometheus

"Just when Season 6 was venturing into questionable creative choices, Prometheus comes in and saves the day with an incredibly tension driven hallucination fight scene. I absolutely love seeing the many interactions between this character and Oliver, and this was by far one of the more entertaining and interesting entries considering that it's all happening in our hero's mind."

Season 7

9. A.R.G.U.S, Laurel, & Dinah Vs. The Longbow Hunters

"The Longbow Hunters makes quite the cool entrance by showing off each member's unique ability as they fend off against A.R.G.U.S.. The main highlight however comes when the Silencer counters Laurel's sonic cry by muting the entire environment making them fight in silence. Such a creative use of audio."

Season 8

10. CW's Flash Encounters The DCEU's Flash

"Words cannot describe how incredible it was to finally see what was once an impossible fanboy dream come true. Seeing an actual DC Comics movie character/cast member show up (and the exact one that I personally was wishing for) encountering the Flash during Crisis was beyond geek out worthy. I also loved their fun interactions about their suits and shared existence."

11. Diggle Encounters The Green Lantern Ring

"After years of fun fan speculation since the show's beginnings, we finally get to see Diggle encountering the Green Lantern ring. It's been a long time coming, and one that is well earned for both the character's journey and the show's final direction into cosmic storytelling. Just the imagery alone of having Diggle being drawn to an unknown item that crashed down from space illuminating his face in green light was geek out worthy."

Preacher

Honorable Mentions

Season 1

1. Motel Fight

"A comedic, action-packed, violent, and brilliantly directed fight scene"

Season 4

1. Fight At The Jesus De Sade House of Entertainment

"A well directed and altogether entertaining fight scene full of cool perspective shifts and colorful costumes. Preacher does it again in delivering a standout action sequence practically out of nowhere."

Krypton

Honorable Mentions

Season 1

1. Brainiac Begins To Capture Kandor

"Cinematically speaking, Krypton is one of the top 3 greatest comic book TV series in existence. One of the most notable moments to highlight this is when Brainiac begins his invasion on Kandor. We're given this jaw dropping and nightmarish shot of Brainiac's massive skull ship slowly hovering over the city while Brainiac himself effortlessly destroys Kandor's security forces using technopathy. It's quite the spectacle of a villain entrance."

Season 2

2. Doomsday Slaughters Army

"Getting to see Krypton's version of Doomsday (which is still my favorite live action version of the character) fully unleashed was an absolute treat. The way they presented him brushing off an entire army's firepower and ripping through soldiers effortlessly was near masterfully executed. Both the CGI and spectacle elements were handled very well."

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Season 1

1. Battle At The Arms Dealing

“In invoking the Avengers movie’s iconic New York battle, Legends of Tomorrow delivers an impressively directed action scene featuring the team in action. Everyone gets to show off their individual capabilities in one visually entertaining battle."

2. Battle At Vandal's Residence

"Another visually stunning action scene featuring the team getting to fully showcase their unique abilities"

3. The Atom Vs. Leviathan

"Not only was it awesome seeing Ray utilize his suit to grow into a giant, but to see him take on a colossal neon colored death robot was simply magnificent"

Season 3

4. The Final Battle Against Earth-X's Army

"Seeing our heroes gathered from all across the Arrowverse to fight alongside each other was a jaw dropping and highly exciting sight to behold. There are several individual awesome moments here such as Barry fighting Reverse Flash through the city, the Green Arrow taking on Dark Arrow, and many more. This was by far the greatest crossover action scene yet."

Honorable Mentions

Season 3

1. The Flash & The Ray Takes Down Red Tornado

"The Crisis on Earth-X crossover had several geek out moments to soak in for hardcore fans. One including seeing the Flash and the Ray take down Earth-X’s Red Tornado. Not only did his design look impressively adapted redeeming what came before on Supergirl, but seeing the duo pair up their powers to fight him was incredible."

2. Giant Beebo Vs. Mallus

"During the Season 3 finale, the Legends create a giant god-like version of Beebo to fight off Mallus resulting in the most hilariously outrageous fight scene ever on the show. It's that final "Weeee!" and maniacal laugh that Bebbo utters right before delivering an epic power dive that had me laughing out like an idiot."

Supergirl

Season 1

1. Kara Rescues A Crashing Plane

"Although not particularly iconic, the spectacle elements of this scene is definitely to be admired. This scene alone was a great introduction to the character's potential as a future superhero."

2. J'onn J'onzz Reveals Himself

"One of those surprise comic book character debut scenes that made my inner nerd smile with joy"

3. J'onn Recounts The White Martian Invasion

This was the moment that made me truly admire the Martian Manhunter character as I was deeply emotionally invested in his backstory here. The visual FX and overall direction of this scene was fantastic.“

4. Supergirl & J'onn Vs. Non & Indigo

"This was by far the most climactic and visually entertaining fight scene of the first season. It's great to see Supergirl and Martian Manhunter have a high stakes superhero team up battle."

Season 2

5. The Battle For Earth

"The battle for Earth's protection during the Season 2 finale of Supergirl is by far the most spectacularly displayed action sequence in the entire CW DC Universe thus far. We get to gaze upon our central heroes fighting through waves of enemies as Daximite ships rain down hell from the skies."

Season 3

6. Battle At The Wedding

“One of the most entertaining crossover action scenes yet due to us getting to see our heroes face off against their evenly matched Earth-X counterparts. Everyone gets to shine here such as Wally throwing bullets back at soldiers, Killer Frost using an ice sword, Cisco breaching Oliver to fight Dark Arrow, and so much more."

Honorable Mentions

Season 1

1. J'onn Vs. Red Kryptonite Supergirl

"Despite not being as lengthy as I would've liked, it was pretty exciting getting to see J'onn J'onzz risk his identity in order to take down a temporarily evil Supergirl."

Season 2

2. Supergirl Vs. Silver Kryptonite Superman

"The battle between Supergirl and a mind controlled Superman was highly entertaining as we get to see the two Kryptonian superheroes clash throughout the city in a fist flying, heat vision frenzy."

Gotham 

Season 2

1. Theo Dumas Beats Down Gordon 

"What makes this scene the first legitimately awesome moment on Gotham for me really comes down to my love for seeing an amazingly executed villain domination segment building up the threat level of said character. This was very well executed for the Theo Dumas character as he effortlessly takes down a seasoned soldier like Gordon.”

2. Bruce Confronts His Parents' Killer

"This was by far one of the most emotional and dramatic scenes on Gotham from the amazing performances by both actors and the emotional impact of seeing Bruce struggle to kill someone"

3. Nygma Slowly Reveals Himself To Jim

"Gotham is filled with entertaining scenes with Ed, but this was the first time where Nygma truly popped out of the screen as an equally intense and multi-layered villain"

Season 3

4. Bruce Establishes His One Rule

"This was by far the most powerful Bruce Wayne/Alfred scene yet as it beautifully pushed things forward regarding the Batman origins story. The performances and writing are at its peak here."

Honorable Mentions

Season 3

1. Talon Vs. The Whisper Gang

"Although Gotham may not have offered up a large gallery of noteworthy fight sequences as one might've expected, there are a few worthy of a re-watch. One of those being the Talon's fight against the Whisper Gang for its solid presentation of how formidable the Court of Owl's assassin is."

2. Bruce Defeats Jerome

"An amazing scene showing how Bruce has evolved over the years as a capable fighter. What's also great is the fact that he overpowers Jerome but stops himself from killing him after having a self reflecting moment."

3. Talon Slaughters Barbara's Gang

"Ever since the Court of Owls were introduced, I was highly anticipating the moment to where we'd actually get to see the Talons in action. This scene does that dream justice as we witness one of the Talons swiftly slicing through a gang of armed gunmen like butter. It's by far one of Gotham's greatest action sequences yet."

Constantine

1. Constantine Possesses Himself To Face A Demon

"Visually, this was probably the most impressive thing that I've ever seen on Constantine CGI-wise, but more importantly, this was a great heroic sacrifice moment for the titular character"

[More To Come...]