Adrian Chase is known to comic book fans as the Vigilante. While this version of Adrian would start out as a lawyer and an ally to the Teen Titans, Adrian would not be satisfied by solely pursuing criminals in court. He would don full body armor and keep weapons at the ready as he began to hunt down lowlife criminal scum.
Adrian Chase has been brought to life in live-action television twice, but both characters are very different. We’re going to analyze key characteristics and assets of the Arrowverse’s Adrian & the DCEU’s Adrian to determine which iteration was better. One key thing to remember is that in Arrow season five, Adrian Chase was not Vigilante but Prometheus. With that in mind, these two depictions, while similar, were wholly different, and it’s time to determine the superiority of the two.
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Allies
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Arrowverse’s Adrian Chase gained the majority of his allies through manipulation. Oliver Queen had given plenty of people reasons to hate him, and Adrian was quick to take advantage of that. Recruiting Artemis to his cause, Adrian would use the fact that Artemis blamed Oliver for her parent’s death. Pushing her over the edge, Adrian informed Artemis that Oliver was also “The Hood,” and that he was responsible for killing multiple people that Artemis personally knew during the initial crusade of season one. Adrian would also recruit Earth-2’s Black Siren, using his intimidation and advanced fighting prowess to keep the powerful woman in check.
While Arrowverse’s Adrian was training with Talia Al Ghul and her League of Assassins, DCEU’s Adrian trained himself. While Adrian starts his quest as a loner, he wouldn’t admit to it, fully believing himself to be Peacemaker’s (second) best friend. Throughout Peacemaker, Adrian would begin to prove himself useful to the team, thanks to his ability to kill people with no remorse. Despite his role as Vigilante leading him on a path to kill anyone who breaks the law, Adrian was still willing to break the law himself if it meant helping his friends. While Prometheus would be ready to kill all of his allies to achieve his goals, Vigilante would attain his by remaining loyal to his allies. It helps that one of those allies was Amanda Waller’s daughter, of course.
Enemies
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Prometheus chose his name in honor of the mythological being that took power away from the gods to decide humanity’s fate. Adrian would learn that Oliver Queen was responsible for his father’s death as well as the deaths of many citizens of Star City. Seeking vengeance, Prometheus wouldn’t have to only contend against Green Arrow, but Arrow’s whole team. While he was able to recruit an inside player in Artemis, Prometheus still would have a numbers disadvantage taking on Spartan, Wild Dog, Mr. Terrific, & the new Black Canary, among many others. He could contain these opponents thanks to his manipulations in the field and his civilian identity as the District Attorney.
Vigilante doesn’t have many enemies gunning for him as he kills everyone he fights. Adrian’s biggest antagonist would be the police, who would hunt him down for his illegal activities. As Adrian couldn’t kill these officers without breaking his code, he would flee the scene instead. It would be through his uniting with Peacemaker and the team that Adrian would gain a whole new class of enemies. Having to take on butterflies, an alien species that could kill a human being and take control of their body, Adrian would join the team in an epic final battle. Despite being severely outnumbered by the alien army, the team fought hard. Adrian would eventually succumb to his injuries and pass out, but not before killing one more foe as he did so.
Arsenals
Like many of Green Arrow’s enemies, Prometheus would hone his skills with the bow and arrow, becoming a master archer. Alongside these feats, Adrian would work extensively on various blades. Proving to be a skilled marksman with knives and axes, and a master swordsman. Most of this training had come from his time with the League of Assassins; but Adrian also had the means to keep himself well-stocked with weapons. A signature of Prometheus’ attacks included a style of shuriken, striking his enemies down with precision before going in for the killing blow.
Vigilante takes his arsenal seriously. During his practice sessions with Peacemaker, Adrian can be seen using various kinds of firearms and has easy access to explosives. He can even briefly be seen using a recurve bow. Adrian holds nothing back when it comes to getting as flashy as he can with his kills, using throwing knives, a Honshu war sword, and even attempting to bring a chainsaw on a mission. While his Vigilante armor is impressive, Promethus’ armor gets a slight edge for having a built-in voice changer. Thankfully Adrian was able to outfit his visor with prescription lenses, ensuring he maintains full vision in combat.
Source Material Accuracy
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The Arrowverse sacrificed accuracy for shock factor. While those familiar with Vigilante’s comic book identity felt confident that D.A., Adrian Chase would be revealed as the Vigilante, it was instead Vincent Sobel who had donned the body armor. Adrian would take on the mantle of Prometheus instead in a shocking twist for viewers. And while one could still point to his tenure as a District Attorney as an index of accuracy, it would also be revealed that this man was not Adrian Chase but Simon Morrison. After The Hood murdered his father, Simon would wipe any data on his existence from the internet and adopt the identity of Adrian Chase. From here, Simon’s only goal is to make Oliver Queen feel the pain that Simon felt.
While DCEU stuck to having Adrian Chase as Vigilante, there was undoubtedly a large difference in his demeanor. Having no legal experience to speak of and a significant difference in maturity, Adrian does retain points for keeping with the purpose of the original character. Seeking to kill all criminals with extreme prejudice, Adrian maintains that he is doing the right thing and commits himself to the cause. It is often cited that both versions of Adrian are either psychopathic or sociopathic. The battle with mental health was also significant to the comics, with Adrian taking his own life in the source material.
