This year has seen the DCU fully kick off and reveal itself to audiences, not only by introducing heroes like Superman, Mister Terrific, and Hawkgirl, but giving us some new supervillains as well. Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor immediately made a splash, cementing his place in this larger cinematic universe but also showing off the actor’s impressive chops in playing an evil doer. Though Luthor continues to be a clear threat in the larger DCU, the franchise very quietly revealed another one to audiences, one who will be lurking in the wings.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 7 ended with a surprise as ARGUS took Christopher Smith into custody, and the door to Earth X was seemingly closed. There was a major twist on that alternate Earth that was revealed, though, that the adult version of Peacemaker’s brother, Keith, played by David Denman, had survived the episode. At first, the confirmation that Captain Triumph has survived on an alternate Earth may not seem like a big deal, but James Gunn says you’d be wrong to think that.
The DCU Has “Born” a New Supervillain in Captain Triumph
Speaking at a press conference attended by ComicBook, DC Studios boss and Peacemaker creator James Gunn spoke about the future of the DCU and that major cliffhanger ending. When asked if he could speak toward a potential future that Keith may have in the DCU, Gunn was quick to note that the Salvation storyline is the DCU’s big thread, but Keith will be waiting in the wings.
“Well, I think we’ve born a supervillain,” Gunn revealed about Keith’s survival on Earth X. “But I do think of the sort of A-story is about Salvation, which is the thing that’s more planned out than the Keith of it all…I have plans for Keith. I just haven’t figured out exactly how it’s all going to work out. So I have to make sure I can do it. It’s hard with the interdimensional hopping stuff to make these things come together in the way I’d like. So I have what I would like to happen with Keith, but I’m not sure (when it will happen). I’ve got to make sure it’ll work.”
One thing that’s of note is that the Captain Triumph name does have roots in DC Comics canon, as it is a character owned by the publisher. First published by Quality Comics in the 1940s, Captain Triumph was later acquired by DC and made sporadic appearances in canon in titles like Teen Titans and Animal Man.
What’s worth noting is that the Captain Triumph in comics is nothing like the one seen in Peacemaker. Not only is he not even the same character, with no relation to Peacemaker in the slightest, but his powerset is general superheroics rather than the technology that powers him in the DCU. In short, Gunn took a name for a character that DC owns and put it on this character that he created, giving him plenty of leeway in making his own hero (and now, villain) that doesn’t depend on specific comic canon that came before.
The trouble with all of this, of course, is with the Salvation prison planet story now front and center in the DCU; evil Keith on Earth X may be waiting in the wings for a long time. In the end, this may not be a bad thing. Gunn is clearly telling a story and exploring a concept that has interested him for quite some time, meaning that when a door in the Quantum Unfolding Chamber opens up one day and a suped-up, pissed off Captain Triumph steps out, fans will be stoked that the payoff finally happened.
Most Viewed
-
image courtesy of 20th Century Studios -
Image courtesy of Prokino Filmverleih -
Image courtesy of Sony
