Filmmaker James Gunn has inspired DC fans to dust off their favorite obscure characters and place their bets on which ones will feature in the new DCU.
A known supporter of the Metal Men and Bat-Mite, his knowledge of old-school personalities from comic book canon inspired a discussion about which vintage figures should appear in the r/DC_Cinematic subreddit.
Tintin006 kicked off the conversation with the question, “Who’s your pick for the most obscure character that will be announced as part of the new DCU?”
Once again, the exceptional proficiency of DCU fans was impressive. Many compelling superheroes from yesteryear showed up in the thread. The exchange was humorous, but there was also a wonderful sense of nostalgia.
Redditor Dry-Donut3811 brought up a character whose name suggests he ought to have six legs, but he only has two, “Ambush Bug. Don’t really know how a film about him would work, but I’d be very interested to see Gunn try.”
Puzzleheaded_Walk_28 had other ideas and suggested a character from the past who was born in the future. Their pick was also polled well among Gunn’s followers, “If they actually do Booster Gold per his poll, that would be up there. If they get a legit New Gods movie out I’d say that would be packed with pretty obscure characters.”
The next suggestion was a little tricky, considering that two versions of this former member of the Justice League exist in the DCU. Zombiebombie613 pointed out that Gunn name-checked them in November 2022, “Didn’t he post Mister Terrific at some point? I’d say that might be a character that we could possibly see earlier rather than later.”
DeppStepp joked that a character developed way back in 1939 had some promise in the present, “There’s this one super obscure character… what was his name? Bat-man? I think he could get a good movie”
It is intriguing to envision how throwback characters would translate on the silver screen if they had the same treatment as Batman. The creative team is so adept that the character resonated with fans on a deep level. Part of the allure of every DC hero is the endearing way they reframe vulnerabilities and turn them into superpowers so it would certainly be interesting to see how this principle plays out with the deepest of deep cuts.
