DC movies stretch back over 60 years, predating the Marvel craze and laying the ground work for all superhero franchises to come. The Superman franchise was shot before Close Encounters and Star Wars, and is often credited as spearheading the large market for sci-fi franchises.
Tim Burton’s Batman presented the genre as a serious, stylistic vigilante that helped establish the current ambiance of the genre, and Wonder Woman shined a beacon for women empowerment – a symbol of hope during the #MeToo movement.
Throughout DC’s legendary run, friendships were formed amongst superheroes and villains alike. There’s something special about chemistry on camera transitioning into the real world, where powers are stripped away, but the connection remains.
Conflicts also emerged in production, usually pitting egos against one another beneath the pressure of adapting a superhero from comic page to screen. However, for the most part, these frenemies played nice for the camera, while quarrelling behind the scenes.
Because of the lengthy time that we’ve been privy to DC movies, there were plenty of alliances as well as rivalries forged behind the scenes.
With that said, here are the 10 Stars Who Are Best Friends In DC Movies (And 10 Frenemies).
20. Best Friends: Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern)
At least one good thing came out of the cosmic train-wreck that was Green Lantern. Apparently, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds became such good friends that they played matchmaker to each other for nearly a year and a half.
Although this sounds like a rom-com that made up the early parts of Reynold’s career, the two went on a double dates before eventually falling for each other.
Now married with children, the couple credits the friendship that they established on the Emerald Knight flick as the reason why their love is everlasting.
“That’s what I appreciate about our relationship,” Lively told Entertainment Weekly. “Is that he really is— he’s my friend, first and foremost still, you know?” Reynolds backed up the statement, telling People: “We were buddies for a long time, which I think is the best way to have a relationship, to start as friends.”
19. Frenemies: Jared Leto & Viola Davis (Suicide Squad)
Jared Leto is heralded as one of the best method actors of his generation, but one co-star wasn’t having his shenanigans.
Viola Davis claims that she never met the “real” Jared Leto because he stayed in character on the set of Suicide Squad. Apparently, the Joker has a soft spot for Christmas and gave gifts to his fellow cast-mates.
Davis was less than thrilled when she was presented with a box of bullets, which was better than the reported used condoms, beads, and dead rats that were given to others.
Davis was intent on staying away from the deranged clown, just like editors of the movie were when they cut out the majority of his scenes in the final cut of the movies. Apparently, Davis kept a can of pepper spray at the ready during filming and even considered telling her former football athlete husband about her safety concerns.
18. Best Friends: Jack Nicholson & Danny DeVito (Batman, Batman Returns)
Although they didn’t share screen time together, both the Joker and the Penguin were besties in real life. Unlike a popular rumor– which claims that Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito were pals because their folks shared a hair salon business– both actors met on the set of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
DeVito heard stories of Nicholson in his old neighborhood in Ashbury Park. Both of them had mutual friends, and DeVito spilled the beans on his roots during filming.
The actors later cast each other in directorial efforts– DeVito fronted Goin’ South, while Nicholson returned the favor, nabbing a role in Hoffa.
Jack has since retired and is often spotted courtside rooting for the Los Angeles Lakers. He remains close to DeVito, who had a career resurgence in his defining role of Frank Reynolds in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
17. Frenemies: Halle Berry & The Catwoman Cast (Catwoman)
Female fronted superhero movies are now all the rage, with Wonder Woman lassoing box office gold last summer. However, before this, the sub-genre eluded success, with movies like Supergirl and Elektra bombing.
Chief among these flops was Catwoman, the legendary bad movie that focused on the feline hero. The Halle Berry-fronted movie euthanized superwoman flicks for over a decade.
The misogynist flick is considered one of the worst movies of all time and had absolutely nothing to do with Batman, selling Catwoman as an objectified body suit instead of an empowered femme fatale.
Catwoman garnered four Razzie awards, including “Worst Actress” for Berry, who just won an Oscar for Monsters Ball two years prior. During her acceptance speech, Berry tore her co-stars Benjamin Bratt and Sharon Stone apart, stating, “I’d like to thank the rest of the cast. To give a really bad performance like mine, you need to have really bad actors.”
16. Best Friends: Phyllis Coates & Jack Larson (Superman and the Mole Men)
Phyllis Coates is now the only actor alive from the original Superman series. Originally cast as Lois Lane in Superman and the Mole Men (which doubled as the proof-of-concept for the show), Coates was given equal billing at the insistence of George Reeves – a generous sign of equality in an era of Hollywood that was not renowned for its kind treatment of women.
Because of scheduling conflicts, Coates was forced to leave the show after the first season. However, she remained good friend with Jimmy Olson actor Jack Larson until his death in 2015 – both united with their inability to shake the image of the role that made them famous.
Larson was a gay icon who later had success in the literary world. He started a production partnership with lover James Bridges, who later cast Coates as the lead in his movie The Baby Maker.
15. Frenemies: Joel Schumacher & Val Kilmer (Batman Forever)
After Batman Returns failed to generate enough revenue from toys – due mostly to Danny DeVito’s horrifying appearance as the Penguin – Batman Forever was the campy, kid-friendly fluff that Warner Bros. wanted for merchandising.
Val Kilmer assumed the role of the titular character, and Schumacher stepped into the large black combat boots vacated by Tim Burton. The studio was hoping that the pair would duplicate the director and his bat-muse chemistry that Burton and Michael Keaton shared in the previous two entries.
Instead, Kilmer reportedly treated the crew like garbage and was reprimanded by his director. In turn, Kilmer refused to speak to Schumacher for two weeks.
As well as calling his star “childish and impossible,” Schumacher continued his bad mouthing long after shooting wrapped, telling Entertainment Weekly, “I’m tired of defending overpaid, overprivileged actors. I pray I don’t work with [Kilmer] again.”
14. Best Friends: Jonah Hill & Channing Tatum (The LEGO Batman Movie)
We’d need more than this brief entry to describe the bromance shared between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. The pair met on 21 Jump Street and instantly bonded.
Hill claims that they would have gotten along during high school, telling Parade: “People ask if we would have been friends in high school because in the movie, our characters weren’t friends, but I think we would have been best friends in high school. We are from very different places, but we have very similar morals on friendship. I’ve rarely gotten along with someone as well as this guy. We hang out all the time.”
It’s unlikely that Hill and Tatum– who voiced Green Lantern and Superman respectively in The Lego Batman Movie– shared the same recording booth, but we would love to see this casting in real life.
With the criticism towards the DCU lacking humor in their movies, what does Warner Bros. have to lose?
13. Frenemies: Jim Carrey & Tommy Lee Jones (Batman Forever)
Jim Carrey’s is renowned as a wild comedian– a tundra of unlimited energy that one has after downing a couple cans of Red Bull. Meanwhile, Tommy Lee Jones is the Texan who would rather chill out on his farm watching horses gallop.
This clash of opposite personalities didn’t blend well on the set of Batman Forever. Carrey spilled the beans to Norm Macdonald, when he spotted Jones at a restaurant: “I went over and I said, ‘Hey Tommy, how are you doing?’ and the blood just drained from his face. “And he got up shaking – he must have been in mid kill me fantasy or something like that. And he went to hug me and he said, ‘I hate you. I really don’t like you.’”
Carrey claimed it was the genre that caused Jones to be a buzzkill– likely, it was the reported four hours it took for the application of the makeup that made Jones look like a Prince backup dancer.
12. Best Friends: James Wan & Patrick Wilson (Aquaman)
We’ve seen the relationship between director and muse before in the DCU via Tim Burton/Michael Keaton and Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale, but the newest creative duo is set to collaborate on the first ever Aquaman solo venture.
Director James Wan cast Patrick Wilson in four previous movies, utilizing his talents as the face of both Insidious and The Conjuring franchises. Wilson had nothing but positives to report on the experience in an interview with ABC Radio.
“I’m completely biased with James Wan, who I’ve done four films with — knowing that he’s at the helm and knowing what he … can do and what he will do, I’ll do anything with him,” he said.
In a Twitter post, Wan ordained Wilson the “ocean master.” The pair will likely continue building their connection after wrapping the nautical superhero with The Conjuring III, which is slated for next year.
11. Frenemies: Christopher Reeve & Jack O’Halloran (Superman, Superman II)
Later in his life, Christopher Reeve was renowned as an inspirational figure – a humanitarian responsible for generating millions of dollars into paralysis research.
However, during his years donning Superman’s cape, he was often viewed as difficult to work with by his co-stars, who often thought the stardom inflated his ego like an allergic reaction to Kryptonite exposure.
Chief among the critics was Jack O’Halloran, who portrayed the mute villain Non. Apparently, their quarreling got so bad that they almost came to blows during the filming of Superman II, in which director Richard Donner begged O’Halloran not to strike Reeve in his money-making face.
O’Halloran detailed their animosity in aninterview with TMZ: “Superman was the first thing he ever did of any consequence. He believed his own publicity a little too much. He was like a child. He was like a little kid. He wanted to be Superman and Clark Kent all the time.”
10. Best Friends: Gal Gadot & Chris Pine (Wonder Woman)
The chemistry on-screen between Gal Gadot and Chris Pine was palpable, and it tugs on our heart strings that Pine will not return for any sequels. However, off-camera, the married Gadot likens her relationship with Pine as two gossiping girlfriends. In an interview with Glamour, Gadot called Pine “metrosexual.”
“We can talk about beauty and fashion,” Gadot said. “He would be interested in my clothes that I wear if it’s pretty, and I would love his new jacket and vintage clothes. We have a very similar sense of humor and can laugh easily together.”
In a press conference, Pine confirmed the perks of working alongside Wonder Woman: “My job was very easy. I got to come to work, fall in love with her, make her laugh as much as I could, flirt, and act like a jacka**.”
9. Frenemies: Christopher Reeve & Marlon Brando (Superman)
By now, Marlon Brando’s role as Jor-El is the stuff of legend: the hefty salary; his insistence to play the role as a bagel, and the lines of dialogue that were placed on other actor’s chests.
Director Richard Donner claimed that Brando was charming on-set, but Christopher Reeve tells a different story. On the David Letterman Show, Reeve accused his legendary co-star of phoning it in for a mega payday. “I had a wonderful time, but the man didn’t care,” Reeve said. “He just took the $2 million [salary] and ran.”
As a former disciple at the Brando alter, Reeve denounced his former idol and admitted that it was sad seeing an older thespian not caring anymore: “What happened is the press loved him, whether he was good, bad, or indifferent; that people just thought he was an institution no matter what he did, so he doesn’t care anymore.”
8. Best Friends: Ben Affleck & Henry Cavill (Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League)
Despite the viral #SadAffleck – and Ben Affleck’s insistence that he will never do an interview with Henry Cavill again to avoid becoming a trolling target – Batman and Superman are superpals in real life.
Both trained together in preparation for their roles and made it a priority to connect off-camera. Filming on the first Batman v Superman lasted a year, and they didn’t want to spend that brunt of time with someone who they disliked.
Their chemistry was apparent during the movie’s whirlwind press tours, prompting fans to give them the nickname “Benry”– a combination of nicknames that has oddly dogged Affleck for the brunt of his career.
There are posts dedicated to their fondness of each other at comic conventions, and both recently renewed their DCU contracts, hoping that they’ll create more memories together as caped superbesties.
7. Frenemies: Christopher Reeve & Margot Kidder (Superman IV: The Quest For Peace)
Already, the majority of the cast was over the Superman franchise by its fourth installment. Reeves only agreed to come back to don the cape when he was given wheel barrows brimming with money and the opportunity to provide input into the script.
However, Kidder said Reeve’s creative stranglehold on the project made him even more unbearable to work with – more like Nuclear Man than Kal-El.
The Lois Lane relationship was put on the back-burner in favor of Lacy Warfield as Clark Kent’s love interest. Kidder accused Reeve’s of opting to replace her romance with Superman with a younger woman, claiming that she was too old despite both actors only having a four year age difference.
Reeve even got to direct fight scenes– the power that he wielded made the movie more disjointed and Kidder called it a “stupid mistake.”
6. Best Friends: Jason Momoa & Amber Heard (Aquaman)
We’re pretty sure that if we were filming in Australia for several months, we’d make fast friends with everyone around us. While filming in paradise, Aquaman stars Jason Momoa and Amber Heard connected on- and off-camera.
mBoth have posted about drinking wine, attending rugby games, and hurling axes with Momoa’s kids. The duo recently posted wrap pictures, where they gushed about each other.
In one post, Momoa said, “big mad crazy love to my MERA” and referred to her as “my rider.” Heard responded with a plethora of their celebrating, thanking him for an “amazing 7 months.”
For further confirmation of their friendship, look no further than this red carpet interview, where Khal Drogo drops his tough facade and starts dancing around like a party goer overconfident about his Dance Dance Revolution skills.
5. Frenemies: Alan Moore & Hollywood (From Hell, League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, etc)
Alan Moore is one of the greatest living writers, his work heralded as groundbreaking masterpieces in the paneled pages of graphic novels.
Little did you know, though, that Moore is the kind of literary beatnik that shuns television from his home in favor of stacks of reads. After bad experiences with the production of movie adaptations From Hell and League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Moore opted to give screen royalties to his artists and wash his hands of the money-grubbing grime powering the City of Angels.
“The main reason why comics can’t work as films is largely because everybody who is ultimately in control of the film industry is an accountant,” said Moore to MTV. “These people may be able to add up and balance the books, but in every other area they are stupid and incompetent and don’t have any talent.”
Moore has likened the scripts of his works to “rubbish” and claimed that the budget of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen could have assuaged the civil unrest of third-world countries.
4. Best Friends: Ryan Reynolds & Taika Waititi (Green Lantern)
Another friendship forged from the Green Lantern disaster, Ryan Reynolds found a kindred hilarious spirit with talented New Zealander Taika Waititi.
Because of their friendship, Reynolds poached actor Julian Denninson – whom Waititi discovered and cast in his movie Hunt for the Wilderpeople – for Deadpool 2.
“I’m very good friends with Taika,” Reynolds told NZ Herald. “That’s why I cast him.” Reynolds went on to disappoint DC fan boys, raving about the Waititi-fronted Thor: Ragnarok on social media: “Taika Waititi is an international treasure. Protect his mind and body at all costs.”
With Disney purchasing the Fox rights to Deadpool, many fans are excited over the possibility of both Reynolds and Waititi reuniting for a future sequel.
3. Frenemies: Marlon Brando, Margot Kidder, etc & The Salkinds (Superman I, II)
Numerous superegos were involved in the making of Superman II. So much so, that director Richard Donner was sacked from the movie by father-and son producer duo Alexander and Ilya Salkind.
Actors Gene Hackman and Margot Kidder dropped out of the sequel in response to how poorly the firing was handled, with the Lois Lane actress referring to the producers as “crooks.”
The Salkinds were sued by Marlon Brando, writer Mario Puzo, and the dismissed Donner for fraudulently withholding additional shares of the movie’s revenue.
Donner remembered the us-vs-them attitude in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter: “I was making a movie and they wouldn’t tell me the budget. So there was no way I knew what I was spending. Sometimes I’d authorize something and nothing would be there; they would just arbitrarily cancel it. They didn’t want anyone to know where that money went, I guess.”
2. Best Friends: Margot Robbie & Will Smith (Suicide Squad)
Despite tabloids having a field day with their relationship, Margot Robbie and Will Smith originally connected on the set of Focus and furthered their bestie status while filming Suicide Squad.
Robbie stayed in character as the cosplay favorite Harley Quinn and Smith even joined her to tattoo fellow castmates with custom ink reading “SKWAD.”
Smith has stated that he’s interested in working with Robbie in the future. “‘I’d definitely love to be in it,” Smith told Daily Mail, in regards to future DC movie. “I love Margot Robbie. I would do like, anything she wants to do.”
Apparently, Jada Pinkett Smith demanded her husband to get in shape so that he wasn’t embarrassed by Robbie. The Smith family and Robbie have all hung out together, usually spending time out on Will’s boat.
1. Frenemies: Gal Gadot & Brett Ratner (Wonder Woman II)
Wonder Woman was everything that Catwoman was not – a shining beacon of female empowerment in a formally lackluster superheroine subgenre. That’s why it was a surprise when director – and X-Men franchise killer – Brett Ratner was hired to produce the sequel.
As Wonder Woman racked up ticket sales at the box-office, Brett Ratner racked up harassment and homophobic misconduct allegations. Similar to her superhero counterpart, Gal Gadot quickly unfurled her Lasso of Truth and had Ratner dismissed from the project.
Gadot further posted her views on Instagram, where she wrote “Bullying and sexual harassment is unacceptable! I stand by all the courageous women confronting their fears and speaking out. Together we stand. We are all united in this time of change.”
Wonder Woman 2 will be the first movie production to officially adopt the Producers Guild of America’s anti-harassment guidelines, a move prompted by the Ratner accusations. The guidelines were created in response to the findings of long-term abuse and exploitation of women in Hollywood.
Can you think of any other DC actors who are best friends (or frenemies) in real life? Let us know in the comments!
