Way back at New York Comic Con, James Gunn teased that when characters die on Creature Commandos, they stay dead. Not only that, but some major characters were on the chopping block in the freshman season of the animated series. We’ve already seen G.I. Robot kick the bucket. And as of this week’s episode, “The Iron Pot,” it sure looks like one more is exiting the series. Spoilers past this point, but is Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) dead on Creature Commandos?
Don’t know if you read the headline at the top of this piece, but: no, Rick Flag is not dead on Creature Commandos. While he’s certainly in a bad way as the episode wraps up, Rick Flag Sr. will not be joining Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman) in whatever version of the afterlife exists in the new DCU.
A brief bit of recap of how we got here, though. In the episode, Rick and Frankenstein (David Harbour) head to Professor MacPherson’s (Stephanie Beatriz) house after seeing her exhibit some weird behavior at a college lecture. And as it turns out, that isn’t MacPherson at all… The real MacPherson is dead, her body lying in her study, while Clayface (Alan Tudyk) plays Mortal Kombat on the Xbox downstairs.
What follows is a pitched battle between the three, with Clayface doing the Bane back-break move on Rick and leaving him to bleed out on the floor. Frankenstein beats Clayface by electrocuting himself while inside Clayface’s body mass, and then rushes to Rick’s side. Frankenstein tells him not to die, but with his last breath, Rick tells Frankenstein to tell The Bride the truth. What truth? Like how many licks it takes to get the center of a Tootsie Roll pop, we may never know.
RIP Rick Flag, right? As noted several times above… No. While he might be worse for the wear, we already know that Grillo will be appearing in live-action as Flag in both Peacemaker Season 2 and Superman, which will be released next year. That’s a tough thing to do if you’re dead, though we shouldn’t discount clones, robot doubles, or your classic Weekend at Bernie’s situation.
On the last, Grillo’s Flag has been spotted walking around by himself without two dudes propping him up in footage from Peacemaker. Which means that he’s A) alive and B) recovered from a broken back. There’s always the possibility that Creature Commandos takes place later in the timeline than Grillo’s other DCU appearances, which could also explain why he has black hair (Grillo’s natural shade) versus white hair. But that’s also extremely confusing.
The point is, while it’s TBD what happens with Rick Flag in the final two episodes of Creature Commandos Season 1, he will be back, non-animated, and on our screens next year. So, he’s not dead… Unless he’s Clayface!!! No, he’s not dead.
Where To Watch Creature Commandos:
Creature Commandos Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
The first two episodes of Creature Commandos premiere Thursday, December 5 at 3 am ET / Midnight PT on Max. One episode a week premieres after that, leading to the season finale on January 9, 2025.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Creature Commandos, with premiere dates:
- Thursday, December 5, 2024: Creature Commandos, Episode 1: “The Collywobbles”
- Thursday, December 5, 2024: Creature Commandos, Episode 2: “The Tourmaline Necklace”
- Thursday, December 12, 2024:Creature Commandos, Episode 3: “Cheers To The Tin Man”
- Thursday, December 19, 2024:Creature Commandos, Episode 4: “Chasing Squirrels”
- Thursday, December 26, 2024: Creature Commandos, Episode 5: “The Iron Pot”
- Thursday, January 2, 2025: Creature Commandos, Episode 6: “Priyatel Skelet”
- Thursday, January 9, 2025: Creature Commandos, Episode 7: “A Very Funny Monster”
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