Frank Grillo has already confirmed that Rick Flag Sr. will be back for James Gunn's Man of Tomorrow, but it sounds like we might be seeing a lot more of the character in the DCU beyond the upcoming Superman sequel.
Grillo was asked about his MOT role and whether a face-off with John Stewart might be on the cards during an interview with Screen Rant.
"He's a big, integral part of Man of Tomorrow. And, certainly, I don't think I'm out of line saying there's more of Rick Flag after Man of Tomorrow. [Aaron Pierre's John Stewart in Man of Tomorrow is in it], so the worlds do collide at some point. What Gunn is brilliant at doing is integrating the timelines, and it's all about the timeline. So, we'll see [about a fight with Flag], maybe."
The Captain America: Civil War actor made his DCU debut voicing the character in the animated Creature Commandos series, before returning for a supporting role in Superman. In Peacemaker season 2, Flag - who had taken over as the head of A.R.G.U.S. - targeted Chris Smith (John Cena), seeking revenge for the murder of his son (Joel Kinnaman) in The Suicide Squad.
Season 2 concluded with Smith and the rest of the 11th Street Kids, along with Judomaster and A.R.G.U.S. Agents Sasha Bordeaux and Langston Fleury, founding Checkmate, and a vengeance-fuelled Rick Flag Sr. establishing his villainous turn by kidnapping Chris and stranding him in Salvation, the Earth-like dimension Flag intends to use as a prison for the planet's metahumans.
We assume that Flag is going to continue down this path, so don't be surprised if he winds up as an adversary of the Man of Steel in MOT - at least until the movie's big bad, Brainiac, puts everyone on Earth on notice.
Gunn has confirmed that the events of the finale are building towards his own take on DC Comics' Salvation Run, a six-issue miniseries that saw the government exile some of Earth's most dangerous metahuman criminals to the planet Cygnus 4019 (Salvation). Separate factions are formed as the villains struggle to survive and attempt to discover a means of escape.
If we are revisiting Salvation in MOT, Flag is sure to be involved.
Grillo made headlines last week when he shared a fan-made Man of Tomorrow poster featuring Adria Arjona as Wonder Woman (the Onslaught star has supposedly been cast as Maxima). Gunn was quick to respond by claiming that the actor had no clue what he was talking about, even sharing a private conversation as apparent confirmation.
MOT will focus on the Man of Steel (David Corenswet) and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) putting their differences aside and joining forces to defend the planet against Brainiac (Lars Eidinger).
Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen), Sara Sampaio (Eve Teschmacher), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), and Maria Gabriella de Faria (The Engineer) have all been confirmed to return.
Man of Tomorrow will hit theaters on July 9, 2027.