DC Comics Movie Aliens Revealed Without Their Makeup and Prosthetics

The DC Universe is crowded with aliens. Its most famous superhero, Superman (David Corenswet), comes from Krypton, yet he can pass for an ordinary human. That is not true of every extraterrestrial in the franchise. Expand the scope beyond the DCU to include DC movies and television shows in general, and the alien designs become even more unconventional.

DC Comics is home to countless exotic-looking beings, and live-action adaptations have often embraced their most outlandish traits. In some cases, the makeup, prosthetics, and visual effects transform the performers so completely that recognizing the actors underneath becomes a challenge. Here is a closer look at the people who brought some of DC’s most unusual aliens to life—and what they look like without their character makeup.

Krem of the Yellow Hills is the central antagonist of 2026’s Supergirl, and calling him merely a bad guy would be an understatement. A merciless bounty hunter and slave trader, he is exactly the kind of vicious villain suited to the film’s comparatively grim tone. He also helps correct one recurring weakness of Zack Snyder’s DC Extended Universe by appearing as a practical, physically present threat rather than a soulless CGI creation.

Krem’s design reflects his ruthless personality. Although he is recognizably humanoid, the leader of the Brigands possesses immense powers and wears dark fantasy-inspired armor, complete with the ominous axe he favors as a weapon. Metal studs mark his face, broadcasting his supervillain status even before his behavior and wardrobe make it obvious. He is hardly the sort of person anyone would expect to see casually walking down the street on a Tuesday afternoon.

If Krem looks familiar in Supergirl, there is a good reason: the character is played by Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts. Before joining the DCU, Schoenaerts built a résumé that often leaned toward acclaimed, character-driven dramas, including the 2011 crime film Bullhead, the 2012 romance Rust and Bone, and the 2015 period drama The Danish Girl. He has also handled major Hollywood action projects, appearing in the 2018 Jennifer Lawrence spy thriller Red Sparrow and Netflix’s The Old Guard films.

The DC Extended Universe ended before Martian Manhunter could make a major impact, but the shapeshifter does appear in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. His true form is revealed only at the very end, making the brief glimpse all the more striking.

Martian Manhunter may have taken the place of another superhero in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, but the director still gives the character a faithful live-action interpretation. He retains his comic-book counterpart’s green skin, bald head, and piercing red eyes, while his design is adjusted to fit the DCEU’s darker, grittier visual style. The X-shaped straps across his chest become a sleeveless top connected to his cape, with glowing red lines suggesting the familiar emblem. More wrinkles and surface detail give him a weathered appearance, while the sharper costume adds an edgier quality typical of the franchise.

Martian Manhunter, whose real name is J’onn J’onzz, has appeared in multiple live-action productions. David Harewood, known for Homeland, plays the armor-wearing Arrowverse version, while Harry Lennix portrays the DCEU incarnation. Lennix also plays the general J’onn impersonates in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. His career stretches back to the 1980s, and he is also familiar from television’s The Blacklist and films such as Ray and The Matrix Revolutions.

Mobius, better known as the Anti-Monitor, stands at the center of the Arrowverse’s massive Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline. His objective is nothing less than the destruction of the entire Multiverse with an antimatter weapon. His imposing appearance makes his allegiance clear: he is not simply a villain, but the ultimate threat.

The Anti-Monitor is another character whose performer is almost completely concealed beneath layers of makeup. LaMonica Garrett also plays his heroic counterpart, Mar Novu, the Monitor, yet the heavy prosthetics make it difficult to see what the actor truly looks like. Between the Monitor’s unusual grooming choices and the Anti-Monitor’s clammy, alien appearance, Garrett’s features remain largely hidden.

The actor beneath the makeup is LaMonica Garrett, whose résumé includes a wide range of notable roles. Viewers may recognize him as Deputy Sheriff Cane on Sons of Anarchy, Pinkerton operative Thomas on the Yellowstone prequel 1883, or Mike Ritter on Designated Survivor. He has also appeared as Bill Cox in The Terminal List and Tucker in Lioness.

The DCU’s True Detective-inspired murder mystery, Lanterns, combines superhero banter with a moody noir atmosphere. Beneath the familiar genre elements is a determined, often bleak story that examines responsibility, loss, and the difficult process of letting go.

That grounded tone makes Sinestro’s more realistic redesign a natural fit. In the comics, Thaal Sinestro is a thin-mustached, dark-haired figure with purplish-red skin and a widow’s peak, creating a look that calls to mind both the devil and Snidely Whiplash. Lanterns preserves some of those recognizable elements while toning down the exaggerated features and using a more muted purple complexion. The result is a character who feels like a Hannibal Lecter-style figure: a charismatic but deeply unsettling gentleman monster whose danger remains apparent even while imprisoned and who follows a peculiar moral code of his own.

Ulrich Thomsen provides the performance beneath Sinestro’s purple skin in Lanterns. The Danish actor has already established himself in Hollywood, most notably as the central antagonist Kai Proctor on Banshee, Alexander Kirk on The Blacklist, and Doctor Helmer Lindegard on The New Pope.

Lobo is a distinctive entry on this list because the makeup covering Jason Momoa’s face is so closely tied to the actor’s familiar image. His black-and-white corpse paint completely changes his appearance, yet the resemblance remains unmistakable. Seeing the character beside Momoa makes the comparison almost inevitable: it is essentially Jason Momoa in corpse paint.

The casting makes sense given Lobo’s long history with Momoa. The actor was rumored to be taking on the role well before Supergirl, and his rugged, biker-like appearance already seemed suited to the Main Man’s style. Although Momoa had recently played a successful version of Aquaman in the DCEU, returning to the DC Universe reboot as Lobo feels like a particularly natural choice—a character many fans would argue he was born to play.

Lobo is a foul-mouthed bounty hunter with extraordinary healing abilities that make him virtually immortal. His strength and durability are sufficient to challenge Kryptonians, while his reputation for brutality comes from wiping out every other member of his species, the Czarnian race. As for Momoa, the actor needs little introduction. His credits include major franchises such as Fast & Furious, Dune, and Game of Thrones, in addition to the DCEU.

Brainiac is one of Superman’s most enduring enemies, rivaling Lex Luthor in fame and arguably surpassing him in danger. With Lars Eidinger set to play the villain in James Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow, the character’s profile is rising once again. However, Eidinger faces strong competition from one of the most memorable live-action versions of Brainiac to date.

Most incarnations of Brainiac combine the traits of a super-scientist, a mentally gifted alien, and a technology-based entity. Syfy’s Krypton follows that tradition. Its Brainiac is an android from Colu who collects miniaturized cities from across the universe, preserving them as part of his ever-growing hoard.

This particularly menacing version of Brainiac wears a black, high-tech suit and retains the character’s classic green skin and head ports, which accommodate cables and other technological appendages. His sharper features and Joker-like smirk are departures from the traditional design. By pushing Brainiac toward the realm of horror, Krypton creates a monstrous interpretation that proves remarkably effective.

You would not necessarily believe it, but the “Krypton” Brainiac is portrayed by the same actor who plays the religious leader the Coluan possesses — the masked Voice of Rao. If you want to check out Blake Ritson with significantly less make-up and prosthetics, watch his turns as Girolamo Riario on “Da Vinci’s Demons,” Oscar Van Rhijn on “The Gilded Age,” or Andrew Gailey on “The Crown.”

The 2011 Ryan Reynolds film “Green Lantern” might be one of the worst superhero movies ever made, but it does feature impressive and colorful alien designs. Among the greatest examples is Abin Sur, a legendary Green Lantern who crashes on Earth after an attack by the fear entity Parallax (Clancy Brown). Realizing that he won’t survive, Abin Sur bestows Hal Jordan (Reynolds) his ring, effectively jump-starting the protagonist’s superhero journey. 

On the surface, Abin Sur is one of many purple aliens, and let’s face it — his DC Comics version looks pretty plain. However, his stern design in the “Green Lantern” movie makes him look both distinctly alien and oddly trustworthy, as befits his status as a powerful, experienced Lantern. 

The movie cast a perfect actor to play the role. Temuera Morrison rose to prominence in the New Zealand Maori family drama “Once Were Warriors” as the violent Jake Heke, and has since become a go-to choice for hard-looking guys who can nevertheless bring gravitas and emotional depth to a role. You likely know Morrison best from the Star Wars franchise, where he plays both Jango and Boba Fett (along with the assorted clone troopers based on the former). After playing Abin Sur, Morrison returned to the DC well in the DCEU, portraying Aquaman’s father Tom. He’s worked with Aquaman actor Jason Momoa other times as well, including the 2025 miniseries “The War Chief” and the 2026 buddy action film “The Wrecking Crew.”

“Titans” reimagines the DC team Teen Titans into young adults with assorted chips on their shoulders, adding a heaping helping of violence and darkness in the mix. The series is notable for featuring “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson as Hank “Hawk” Hall, but it also features plenty of other interesting characters — including the team’s resident alien, Kory Anders (aka Koriand’r, aka Starfire).

An orange-skinned alien princess with super strength and energy powers in the comics, the “Titans” version of Kory is a Black woman with bright red hair. The character’s signature naivety from the comics is represented as an accident that renders her amnesiac. Her true purpose is to assassinate her team mate Raven (Teagan Croft), but fortunately for everyone, things don’t play out that way.

The “Titans” Starfire is actually among the DC live-action alien characters who most closely resembles their performer — at least, when the character isn’t using her rather literal firepower and turning into a green-eyed energy being. Anna Diop achieves the majority of the look with truly impressive red hair and an outfit that resembles the comic Starfire’s uniform color scheme. Outside “Titans,” Diop has appeared in several projects. Among the most notable of these are Jordan Peele’s 2019 horror movie “Us,” The CW supernatural drama “The Messengers,” and Fox’s “24: Legacy.”

The 10-season The WB/The CW drama “Smallville” is a particularly long-running DC show, and over time, it featured plenty of interesting villains. One of the strangest will likely ring a massive bell for a contemporary viewer, provided you can look past the gnarly teeth and the contact lenses.

A massive alien who dresses in rags and feeds on bone marrow, Aldar was one of the many characters who escaped the show’s take on the Phantom Zone — effectively a Kryptonian supervillain prison dimension. This Season 6 villain provides a formidable challenge to young Clark Kent (Tom Welling), which is no surprise considering who plays him. 

Yes, this is none other than Dave Bautista, sporting unnerving contact lenses and a set of rotting gnashers that look like they have tasted their share of marrow. An early-game turn by the pro wrestler who went on to become one of the most soulful big man actors in the business, Bautista makes the most of what he’s given here. Little did he know that he’d go on to portray multiple other hulking aliens, albeit his future parts would be considerably more high-profile than the marrow-oriented one-episode wonder. After all, Bautista’s best-known roles include the likes of “Guardians of the Galaxy” standout Drax and the horrible Beast Rabban of “Dune.”

James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” famously features a laundry list of supervillains who may or may not survive the mission at hand. Many members of the film’s iterations of Task Force X are quite absurd, with the meat-headed and misguided Peacemaker (John Cena) emerging as the standout who received his own spin-off show. 

On the extraterrestrial front, the full-on alien warrior representative of the group is Mongal, a Warzoon from the planet Warworld. High on aggression but unfortunately low on tactical acumen, she’s a fearsome orange-skinned alien who’s extremely strong. With a similar color scheme as Starfire but a far more extraterrestrial look, she’s an impressive sight and a dangerous, though not undefeatable presence. 

Mongal’s role in the movie is fairly small, but the actress behind the makeup is more than a fitting choice to play a powerful warrior. Mayling Ng is a Shaolin kung fu black belt and a fitness champion who performed stunt work and played the uncredited role of Orana in “Wonder Woman,” which technically makes Mongal her second live action DC role. Her other movie roles include the 2018 adventure film “The Scorpion King: Book of Souls,” the 2019 action movie “Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids,” and the 2020 Scott Adkins martial arts action comedy “Debt Collectors.”