Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag will be present in several DC projects and James Gunn teases “He is morally a complex human being”

As the new DC universe of movies and shows kicks off from the studio’s co-heads James Gunn AND Pietro Safranviewers can expect one character that will flow into the early projects, and that is the actor Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr.

Grillo will first appear as team leader Rick Flag, Sr. in the animated series Commando of creatureswhich will debut this fall on Max.

The character already has roots in the DC Universe as the father of the late Rick Flag, Jr., by whom he was played Joel Kinnaman by Gunn The suicide squad (2021). The director had already confirmed that Grillo will also play Flag Sr.

in the second season of Peacemakerwhich creates a potential conflict since he was the main character of the show (Giovanni Cena) who killed Flag’s son in a previous film.

And it doesn’t end here. After paparazzi photos emerged of Grillo on the set of SupermanGunn confirmed Entertainment weekly that Flag will be part of next summer’s big screen release.

Gunn spoke to the outlet about the character of Rick Flag Sr., and explained, “It’s a really interesting character that Frank has shaped. The character is also in Supermanand it’s an incredibly important part Peacemaker. He is one of the main characters of Peacemaker season 2.

“So we get to see this character from different angles, and it’s not easy. This is just not a nice guy, not at all. We see all the different sides of his character. He is morally a complex human being. Grillo is someone I’ve known for a short time and who I’ve wanted to work with for a long time.

“He was one of the first people I talked to when I took over the studio, saying ‘we’ll find something interesting for you,’ and now he’s everywhere.”

It has been reported that Grillo’s performance will be proof of concept for a previously announced policy by Gunn and Safran regarding their new DC Universe, that characters will consistently be played by the same actor in both animated and live-action projects.

So if there is a Superman video game or animated series following next year’s film, the character will likely be played by a star David Corenswet even in those versions.

Playing Flag in an animated series, a live-action series and then a live-action film, Grillo will truly get to inhabit every corner of this emerging DC multimedia franchise.

Gunn continued, “Actors have to be able to work within different genres, and that’s something Frank was really good at. He was really good in the comedy of Commando of creatures and also very good at drama Peacemaker AND Superman.”

DC fans will be able to experience the character of Rick Flag, Sr. for the first time when Commando of creatures debuts December 5 on Max.