James Gunn’sSupermanfilm debuted its first trailer earlier this week to rave reactions from both diehard fans and general audiences,drawing in a record number of views. Starring David Corenswet in the titular role,Supermanwill be the official debut of the DCU and serve as the launching point for several upcoming projects from DC Studios. Although Gunn is adamant that the solo Kryptonian adventure is a standalone story, it will give fans their best look at the greater cinematic universe and its characters. While many have already spottedplenty of DC characters in the two-minute preview, some eagle-eyed fans may have just discovered that a classic Flash villain will be teased inSuperman.
Shortly after the release oftheSupermantrailer, users onXzoomed in on the sequence in which Clark Kent (Corenswet) tumbles his way into the Daily Planet. Standing outside the building is a cop reading a newspaper, with the main headline being “Hammer of Boravia Creates Havoc Downtown." The title is accompanied by a blurry image that looks an awful lot likeGorilla Grodd, a classic villain of the Flash. It’s speculated that the “Hammer of Boravia” is referring to Grodd, a famously fascist and anti-human ape with special abilities. The big coincidence is that the character just showed up inCreature Commandos, which is also set in the DCU. Yes, it’s hard to make out exact details, but the resemblance is remarkably close to his animated counterpart.
For those unfamiliar,Gorilla Grodd is a super-powered telepathic ape who is as intelligent as he is eviland is known as one of the Flash’s most iconic villains in DC Comics canon. He previously appeared in CW’sThe Flashseveral times as a main villain, as well as inLegends of Tomorrow. At one point, Grodd time-traveled in the latter series, infamously, in order to kill a young Barack Obama. That nugget of info is not that important to understand the character, but it’s too mind-boggling of a fact to not mention. Grodd has been used in live-action (and animation) before, butSupermancould make his big-screen debut.
Gorilla Grodd Already Made His DCU Debut in ‘Creature Commandos’
Supermanis the big-screen start of the rebooted DC Universe, but Max’sCreature Commandosanimated series serves as the official debut of the new franchise. Although the show is mostly concerned with James Gunn’s ragtag team of creatures, it also includes plenty of references to the greater cinematic universe.Minor spoilers ahead: In this week’s episode ofCreature Commandos, appropriately timed with the release of theSupermantrailer, an apocalyptic vision from the show’s main villain, Circe,revealed a future in which the world’s greatest heroes were slainas a result ofGorilla Grodd taking over the world.
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Meanwhile, Boravia, the location seen on the newspaper in theSupermantrailer, is also mentioned inCreature Commandos. It’s not difficult to see a possible connection with Gorilla Grodd, especially since he is the biggest villain to be confirmed thus far in the DCU (besides Lex Luthor, of course). It should be noted that all of this is speculation until confirmed by James Gunn himself, but the evidence is quite convincing, and the filmmaker rarely does anything by mistake in his projects.
Written and directed by James Gunn, Superman is the first movie in Warner Bros.' rebooted DC Universe to center around the titular comic book hero. It introduces a new version of the Man of Steel after Henry Cavill’s departure from the role, honoring the character’s roots as “the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way.”
