Marvel Studios and Disney wowed audiences in 2022 with their Halloween Special, Werewolf by Night. It served to expand the scope of what type of stories the franchise could tell while also introducing a fan-favorite character to a wider audience. This is undoubtedly a page that DC should pull from to develop a Halloween special for the Max streaming service to expand their new DCU.

Update October 19, 2023: In honor of the Halloween season and James Gunn's new DCU plans, this article has been updated by Jack Deegan with even more DC characters who could and should get Halloween specials.

In many ways, DC is more well-equipped for Halloween specials than Marvel. One is that James Gunn and Peter Safran's new DCU plans heavily focus on supernatural creatures. Chapter One of the DCU is titled Gods and Monsters, a callback to a line from 1933's Bride of Frankenstein. The plan currently includes the animated series Creature Commandos and a Swamp Thing movie. Embracing those horror and supernatural characters could be a strong path forward for DC. Here are characters and ideas that DC should develop as Halloween specials for Max.

11 Madame Xanadu

Once a magical being of near omnipotent power, Madame Xanadu has had most of her magical abilities stripped from her by her former lover, Merlin. Yes, the very same Merlin from the tales of Camelot. Maintaining her abilities as a seer, Xanadu is often seen advising other magic users on how to best proceed. Recent retcons have allowed Xanadu to become more involved in defending the realm than in previous entries.

A Halloween special doesn't necessarily need to focus on one character, and should DC take an anthology approach, Madame Xanadu could play the narrator, appearing at the beginning of each story and speaking to both the characters who are bound to a tragic adventure, as well as to the audience at home. A Madame Xanadu series was in development at Max for some time by producer J.J Abrams before plans were scrapped in favor of James Gunn's DCU, but a Halloween special might be an excellent way to revive the concept.

10 Etrigan the Demon

Long ago, Jason Blood and Etrigan the Demon were bound together in a magical spell, thus taming the rhyming demon's rage as he would only be allowed to enter the mortal plane to fight in Jason's stead when called upon. Jason Blood is a powerful sorcerer, but even he recognizes some situations require Etrigan's brute strength and hellfire powers. Recent comics have tied Etrigan the Demon to Madame Xanadu, so the two could be paired together in a special.

The power of Etrigan and his rhymes would give nostalgic vibes of classic Halloween specials and leave plenty of chills, as the difference between a helpful ally and a destructive force is the spell attaching Etrigan to Jason Blood.

9 Swamp Thing

The tale of the Swamp Thing is filled with plenty of tragedy and mystery. Alec Holland was a scientist who had died amidst a chemical fire in the swamps of Louisiana. What emerged from these boggy waters was not a man, but a creature made of moss, algae, and other forms of plant life. This Swamp Thing would believe itself to be the mutated form of Alec Holland until such a day would come that it was revealed he was merely an elemental being that had contained the memories and consciousness of Alec Holland.

Swamp Thing is set to get his own feature film as part of James Gunn's new DCU plans, and depending on how successful the film is, a Halloween special to follow it up would be a great continuation of the character. There are plenty of great Swamp Thing comics to draw from that would be great for a smaller-scale Halloween special instead of a feature film. Swamp Thing could even cross paths with Superman or Batman, which the character has done many times in the comics.

8 Zatanna

A professional stage magician turned actual sorceress, Zatanna is one of the most powerful people in the DC Universe. After her father mysteriously went missing one day, she did whatever she could to find him, even going as far as to get some help from members of the Justice League. While he would eventually give his life to save her, she made it her life's mission to fight against the dark arts alongside her stage magic. Famously reciting spells backward, her powers are only limited by her imagination.

Zatanna is a prime candidate for a Halloween special. Her dances with the dark arts set up a story full of scares that would fully deliver on the Halloween expectations. She's no stranger to dealing with demons or other sorcerers; that conflict would provide something new for DC. With James Gunn's DCU looking to dip its toe into the supernatural world, Zatanna is one of the most famous DC characters who deserves the time in the spotlight. She could easily be DC's answer to the Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange. Promising Young Woman screenwriter Emerald Fennell was developing a movie that was teased as scary Warner Bros. should revive it as a Halloween special.

7 John Constantine

Where John Constantine goes, doom follows. Such is the warning for any fool who would dare call themselves a friend of the dark sorcerer. When one reads a tale of Constantine's adventures, one often finds themselves asking if John is truly a hero or just a selfish figure who happens to save the day because his own life is at risk.

John Constantine is one of the most famous DC characters, and his history with the occult lends itself to a Halloween special. There are plenty of great Hellblazer comics to draw from, and even the short-lived NBC series realized how great Constantine is for Halloween as they had the series premiere in October and got a Halloween episode out.

6 Deadman

Despite his rough upbringing full of abuse and neglect from his parents, Boston Brand eventually managed to break away from them and start his own life. Unfortunately, his past haunted him, turning him into a violent drunk. As a circus aerialist under the name Deadman, Boston was in his prime when he was untimely assassinated during one of his acts, but this wasn't where his life ended, it was where it began. Trapped between the living and the afterlife in a state of limbo, the Hindu Goddess Rama Kushna gave him a second chance at life as a ghost. He would use these abilities to haunt the living world, unable to move forward as he does whatever he can to improve the lives of others.

A character named Deadman sells itself for a Halloween special. A recurring member of DC's supernatural team, Justice League Dark, Deadman is a popular character with a whole untapped world of potential in live-action. If he were to get his own special, it could be filled with horror from the ghost's perspective. Similar to Beetlejuice, a haunting from the ghost perspective could be a lot of fun.

5 The Anti-Living

The Anti-Living are not exactly one singular character, but this undead horror is perfect for a Halloween special. After Darkseid unleashes a corrupted version of the anti-life equation on Cyborg, it becomes a techno-virus that begins taking over the world. Nobody is safe, no matter how strong of a hero, as the virus spreads faster than it can be controlled. Even Batman is taken out by the Anti-Living in the first issue of the series, showing that no matter how prepared these heroes are, nothing can stop them. Lois Lane narrates the series as it details how the Anti-Living outbreak turned Earth into a dystopian apocalypse.

As DC's answer for zombies, the Anti-Living debuted in 2019's DCeased event. This kind of conflict makes perfect sense to develop a Halloween special around. James Gunn has made it known that they're still developing Elseworlds projects like The Batman Part II and Joker: Folie à Deux, so why not add a DCeased-inspired event to that? This Halloween special could fully dive into the horror of zombies taking over the universe and see how heroes would deal with that. Superhero movies and the zombie genre colliding haven't been touched on much outside of Marvel's What If...?.

4 Ragman

Rory Regan is a character with a few different origin stories, but one thing stays the same: he dons the Suit of Souls, a cloak made of rags from his Jewish heritage, to fight crime and protect his neighborhood and becomes Ragman. His first origin saw him as a Vietnam War veteran who was the sole survivor after a group of gangsters electrocuted him and his family. Somehow gaining their collective skills, he donned a suit of rags and avenged them as a crime fighter. That origin was later revised to what it is today, where Rory inherited the mystical suit from his father following his death. Now known as the Suit of Souls, each rag would represent and possess the skills of a corrupt soul it consumed.

Ragman has made it to live action once before in Arrow, but the series quickly had to write him out after realizing how powerful he was. He's often one of the company's most forgotten heroes, but with his own special the public could learn what makes him so interesting. Dealing with souls already fits the spooky vibe a Halloween special is going for and could lean into that horror. It would also be nice to see some Jewish representation on screen, which live-action DC has been lacking.

3 Solomon Grundy

Solomon Grundy would be the perfect showcase of zombie folklore in the DC Universe. Cyrus Gold, a known criminal, had died in the bog of Slaughter Swamp just outside of Gotham City and would reanimate as a hulking brute, taking the moniker of Solomon Grundy after remembering that he was born on a Monday. This character is notable for being an enemy of multiple heroes in the DC Universe, having fights with Green Lantern, Batman, Superman, and the Flash.

A special could focus on Grundy as more of a gentle monster as he has been depicted in the comics as such before. Seeing him go about town as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein's Monster would make for a beautiful DC Comics parody of a classic tale told around the campfire and autumn leaves.

2 Frankenstein

Frakenstein's Monster is about to get a big push in the DCU. He is already confirmed to be a member of the Creature Commandos, with David Harbour voicing the character. Harbour is also expected to play the character in live-action entries, so a live-action Halloween special would be a great place to start. Not much is known about what Creature Commandos will show, but a special could give a unique DC spin on Frankenstein's origin.

The audience could see the classic tale unfold, unlike anything they had seen before. What if one of Hawkman and Hawkgirl's past lives crossed paths with the creature, or what if The Phantom Stranger or Vandall Savage encountered the creature after slowly being created? There are countless possibilities for a Frankenstein Halloween special to explore.

1 The Spectre

The Spectre is such a great concept it is shocking Warner Bros. didn't try to turn him into the star of his own set of horror films in the late 80s. The basic concept is a normal individual that becomes the spirit of vengeance, looking to punish the wicked and the damned. Most start out looking to seek revenge on those who harmed them before taking on a bigger mission.

This basic premise, Hellraiser and I Know What You Did Last Summer but in the DC Universe, could be a promising Halloween special—not focusing on the Spectre but his victims and how terrifying his actions can be from their point of view. Even though they are clearly bad guys, to see them against an unstoppable elementful force can be terrifying and blur the lines between hero and villain in a spooky way.