James Gunn May Open The Door For The Arrival Of Captain Atom To The DCU
JB Augustine
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James Gunn hasn’t completed all the casting for his DC Universe yet, but he has been on a spree that has turned Superman: Legacy into one crowded film before the cameras even roll. Aside from The Man of Steel and Lois, we are going to see Hawkgirl, Metamorpho, Guy Gardner, Mr. Terrific, and possibly others.
As the old saying goes, there is always room for one more and Gunn may have narrowed down who’s next. A couple of teases on his social media prove the director-turned-studio executive is an adorer of Captain Atom.
Twitter/X account DCU Updates stumbled upon a post that Gunn made on Threads after he was asked what he thought of the Charlton Comic character. Along with screenshots of two covers Atom has graced over the years, Gunn replied, “I’ve been a big Captain Atom fan for a long time.”
He was far from done as he also shared a cover from the character’s Charlton days on his Instagram days. DCU updates screen grabbed that as well.
Gunn has yet to cast a new Wonder Woman or a new Batman for his mainline continuity, but switching his focus to an obscure hero like Captain Atom and shoehorning him into the mix first is very much on brand.
Over his decade-long tenure in the superhero genre, he catapulted Star-Lord, Rocket, and Groot of the Guardians of the Galaxy, villains such as Ego the Living Planet, the High Evolutionary, King Shark, Ratcatcher, and Starro to name a few into the limelight.
The biggest name Gunn brought out of obscurity – with the help of John Cena – was Peacemaker. Christopher Smith shares humble beginnings at Charlton with the silver atomic one, so it would be no stretch for Gunn to go back to that well. He just might want to wait until Superman: Legacy wraps.
Captain Atom was one of the heroes Steve Ditko co-created at Charlton with Joe Gill, who also assisted in creating Peacemaker. His original identity under Ditko and Gill at the defunct publisher was Allen Adam, a technician granted powers by a rocket explosion.
When DC got ahold of him, he became Nathaniel, and his origin was changed to involve an alien shipwreck, a government program, and a nuke. This was during the Post-Crisis incorporation of new characters and original titles into a condensed continuity that included several names acquired from Charlton.
A short time before this all was made official, DC introduced its own Capt. Atom in Dr. Manhattan, who was inspired by the Ditko creation.
NEXT: ‘Barry’ Actor Anthony Carrigan To Play Metamorpho in ‘Superman: Legacy’
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