Is Frank Grillo the key to solving the DC Universe timeline? James Gunn debunks speculation that the actor’s beard as Rick Flag Sr. indicates when certain projects take place.
Frank Grillo has officially made his live-action debut as Rick Flag Sr. in the first teaser for Peacemaker season 2. However, now that Creature Commandos promotions have finally started ramping up, fans noticed that Grillo’s facial hair looks different. In Peacemaker and Superman, he’s sporting a regular black beard. In Creature Commandos, he has almost all grey hairs.
This led many people to believe that Frank Grillo’s facial hair as Rick Flag Sr. was the key to unlocking the DC Universe timeline. It was speculated that Creature Commandos takes place far in the future due to his much lighter facial hair, with Peacemaker and Superman taking place earlier in the timeline due to Flag appearing much younger.
James Gunn Debunks The Rick Flag Beard Theory
This, as with all speculation for the DC Universe, was quickly commented on by James Gunn. According to the director, Frank Grillo’s inconsistent facial hair is mainly down to the actor filming for Tulsa King at the same time as he was playing Rick Flag Sr. in Peacemaker and Superman. In reality, the timeline of the new universe simply comes down to release order (for now).
“Link it more with Grillo simultaneously shooting Tulsa King.” Gunn explained on Threads “[Peacemaker season 2] is after [Superman] which is after [Creature Commandos].”
It makes sense that the DC Universe timeline would be in that order given that’s the order James Gunn wrote the projects in. Given how busy he’s been with the reboot, it wouldn’t make sense to try to hide variable timeline places in the beard of Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. Though given how clean the character looks in Creature Commandos, it wouldn’t be a bad touch for Grillo to let things grey.
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