James Gunn Might Keep The Door Open A Crack For Bisexual Killer Croc In DCU
DC Studios head James Gunn has an affinity for making lesser-known characters famous, but not without adding a few unnecessary and occasionally grotesque twists. Sometimes, he makes the right call. Peter Quill, as played by Chris Pratt, is a defining version of Star-Lord for many, even if his resemblance to earlier comic iterations is surface-level.
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Speaking with GQ, Gunn explained, “”From the beginning before I ever took the job as the co-head of DC Studios, Peter Safran and I went in there, and our job is to really get the most out of the DC brand, and a lot of that was to be able to maintain and hopefully upgrade some of these characters, whether it’s Superman or Wonder Woman or Batman that are the diamond properties.”
Gunn went further, adding, “But it’s also to take other characters and turn them into diamond properties, and that is Peacemaker or whatever, Lanterns—the other characters that aren’t as known universally. Which is what I was able to do at Marvel. I mean, the two biggest rides in the world are both the Guardians rides.”
He continued, “And that’s incredible because nobody knew who those characters were, but now it’s just like they’re a part of the Marvel lore in a way that makes them major players. And to be able to do that with Peacemaker—it’s so funny, every time I’ve sat in a crowd watching Superman and Peacemaker comes on screen, it was one of the crowd’s favorite moments, and that’s a character nobody knew.”
Other times, such as with Peacemaker, Gunn misses the mark or gives mixed results. John Cena has his moments as Christopher Smith, but the material tries too hard to earn the mature rating. If he and Gunn want Peacemaker to be the C-tier staple of the DCU that picks up the slack for an absent Batman, this isn’t the way.
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However, Gunn is staying the course and racking up more weird retcons along the way. In the sixth episode of Peacemaker that features an unsurprising ‘surprise’ cameo by Lex Luthor, the megalomaniac accepts a visit from Rick Flagg (Frank Grillo) and complains about loud prison sex from the cell next to his. One inmate is described as “bear-sized…with dragon skin,” and the other as a “glowing twink.”
The former is believed to be Killer Croc, who first appeared in live-action in Suicide Squad, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Though not all of the chopped-up David Ayer film is still canon, Croc might be, but we still know next to nothing about him except his love of BET. As such, this is being seen as another chance at a blank slate for a character with decades of lore behind him.
Gunn wasn’t willing to take the full leap as he replied with “Well, you know, who knows?” – when approached with the possibility that Croc is “canonically bisexual.” However, that usually drives social media crazy with the hypothetical conclusion that Gunn is leaving the door open to another transgressive rewrite (that he can take credit for).
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