The DCU Killed Off A Batman Villain Before The Hero’s Debut & I Think It Was The Right Call

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Warning: This article contains spoilers for Creature Commandos episode 6.
The DC Universe just killed off a Batman villain before his first proper appearance - and I think it was the right move. With the DCU Batman movie The Brave And The Bold seemingly some considerable time away, the plan for how the franchise will handle its Dark Knight going forward is currently decidedly unclear. The presence of figures like Green Lantern Guy Gardner in the Superman movie cast proved early that there is a willingness to have heroes appear in films that aren"t their own, but the question of whether this would be replicated for Batman himself seems more complicated.
With the DCU Batman now having properly appeared in the franchise for the first time - and with a roster of characters with ties to Batman and Gotham having quickly emerged - it seems equally possible that the DC Universe release roster could feature more of the Caped Crusader, or keep him absent entirely from the screen until his own movie. That said, even if the World"s Greatest Detective pulls a disappearing act until his film, it seems the DCU won"t be prevented from using the rest of Gotham"s cast, since the franchise killed off a Batman villain before his debut.
Creature Commandos Killed Off A Batman Villain Minutes Before Its DCU Dark Knight Cameo Close Creature Commandos episode 6 furthers the current-day plot of the series considerably, but also takes its time to delve back into the past as well, detailing the backstory of Doctor Phosphorus, and how he became the glowing green skeleton who"s a part of Amanda Waller"s new team. In the sequences that show Phosphorus" origin story, it"s revealed his transformation came about at the hands of one Rupert Thorne, who in both Creature Commandos and DC comics is a crime boss who contributes significantly to the corruption of Gotham.
The then-unradiated Doctor Phosphorus comes into contact with Thorne to try and fund his research into an experimental cancer cure. However, realizing the error of his ways, the scientist tries to break this connection, which ends with Rupert Thorne and his men killing his wife and child, framing him for their murder by pushing him onto their corpses, and then attempting to kill him by pushing him into his own machine, warping his body and imbuing him with his powers.
Unsurprisingly, Phosphorus does not react happily to any of this, and uses his new abilities to eke out his revenge, starting with killing Rupert Thorne and then moving on to his underlings in a montage that closes with Doctor Phosphorus finally being stopped by the Dark Knight. It"s a fascinating way to show the character"s villainous fall, and a move that justifies killing off a Batman villain shortly before we got to actually see the Caped Crusader properly for a selection of reasons.
Creatures Commandos Killing Off Rupert Thorne Was The Right Move Close First and foremost, the decision to kill off Rupert Thorne before Batman even properly appeared in the DC Universe makes sense because Thorne and Doctor Phosphorus are also linked in the comics. Since Batman has no shortage of other characters he"s linked to, it stands to reason that focusing on the connection between Phosphorus and Thorne will pay off more for the DCU - a move that may also explain why Clayface is exploded into mud in episode 5, though this ironically seems far less potentially fatal given the character"s body composition makes him theoretically capable of recovering from such injuries.
Doctor Phosphorus and Rupert Thorne are enemies in DC comics, and indeed Phosphorus" origin story in the original source material also sees Thorne be partially responsible for his transformation - though this iteration of the story sees the then-fully human Alexander Sartorius involved in building a nuclear power plant that leads to his mutation, not an experimental device to treat cancer. Similarly, Doctor Phosphorus also tries to kill Rupert Thorne in the comics, forcing Batman to save the corrupt politician via the unusual employment of baking soda against the villain.
While Rupert Thorne has other notable storylines that are now impossible for the DCU to adapt in the same way, Gotham has no shortage of corrupt officials or sinister kingpins, and as such, any of these potential narratives could be handed over to crime families like the Maronis or Falcones - or any of the number of other organized crime groups that have popped up in Batman comics over the years. As such, the trade-off for setting up Doctor Phosphorus as a truly intimidating figure seems well worth the sacrifice of killing Thorne so early in the DCU timeline.
I'm So Glad Creature Commandos Hasn't Fallen Into A Big Trap Of Being The First DCU Release Close As the first official release in the DC Universe schedule, Creature Commandos comes at a complicated point in the timeline. Not only does the show carry the task of starting the worldbuilding for the DCU, it also has to deal with the other challenge of making sure it doesn"t do too much, and that the franchise"s overarching world and story can still remain flexible in some ways, so that it can adjust and adapt as it goes on and reception to bigger projects like the 2025 Superman movie helps show what overarching direction is best for the DC Universe.
As such, it"s easy to imagine a version of Creature Commandos that tried to keep itself as contained as possible, with no ties to DC"s other heroes and villains, and no murders of named characters who could come in handy down the line. However, the DC Universe show has done the exact opposite, and it"s these exact moments - like providing dramatic deaths of known comic characters, or revealing Batman arguably years before audiences thought they might get a glimpse of the hero - that have garnered the most audience excitement.
Creature Commandos will finish with episode 7"s release on January 9, 2025.
With this in mind, the stage is truly set for the finale of Creature Commandos to bring a suitably thrilling conclusion to the show that also builds more hype for the future of the DC Universe. Hopefully, the franchise continues to lean into a lot of what made Creature Commandos work even as it delves into tonally different projects - which may well involve killing off other characters before the respective hero they"re most associated with formally debuts.
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