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Rick Flag

Rick Flag is the collective name used for multiple fictional characters featured in American comic books published by DC Comics. Although each character shares the same name, they are portrayed as distinct family members who typically play significant roles in collaborating with the United States government and military within the DC Universe.

The original Rick Flag Sr., initially known as Richard Montgomery Flag Sr., is a World War II veteran and field commander of the Suicide Squadron. This wartime group was composed of convicted men who were used as expendable agents for highly challenging missions. Despite internal conflicts within the squad, under Rick Flag Sr.'s leadership, the team achieved success in completing their missions. Following the conclusion of World War II, the character establishes a family and has a son who is named after him before his death.[1] Richard Roger Flag Jr., also known as Rick Flag Jr., is the most prominent and widely recognized incarnation of the character in comics and other media. He is typically portrayed as the field commander of the modern Task Force X, also known as the Suicide Squad, similar to his predecessor. Rick Flag Jr.'s leadership and exceptional skills have earned him a reputation as one of Amanda Waller's most loyal and trusted operatives within the team, despite the high mortality rate associated with their missions.[2] In a previous version, the character was alternatively depicted as a soldier named Anthony Miller, who was suggested to have been implanted with false memories, believing himself to be the son of the original Rick Flag. However, in modern continuities, this aspect is often disregarded. In certain retellings, Rick Flag Jr. is sometimes portrayed as the grandson of the original Rick Flag, rather than his direct son.[3]

The character made his live-action debut in the television series Smallville, played by Ted Whittall. In the DC Extended Universe, Rick Flag Jr. was played by Joel Kinnaman in the films Suicide Squad (2016) and The Suicide Squad (2021), and Frank Grillo will play Rick Flag Sr. in the DC Universe, starting with the animated series Creature Commandos (2024), and will play the character in live-action in the upcoming film Superman (2025) and the second season of Peacemaker.

Fictional character biography

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Rick Flag Sr.

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Rick Flag Sr.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceSecret Origins #14 (May 1987)
Created byJohn Ostrander
Luke McDonnell
In-story information
Alter egoRichard Montgomery Flag Sr.
Team affiliationsUS Army
Suicide Squadron
Task Force X
Suicide Squad
AbilitiesSkilled military leader, strategiest, and skilled in armed and unarmed combat
Richard Montgomery Flag led a division in World War II called the Suicide Squadron.[4][5] In his first mission, Flag was the only survivor. After that his team enjoyed increasing success and decreasing casualties. After the war, he married Sharon Race.[6] In 1951, with the disappearance of the Justice Society of America and other super-heroes, President Harry S. Truman again called on Flag when he created Task Force X.[7][8] Task Force X would have two units: the military unit "Argent" (led by "Control"), and the civilian unit "Suicide Squad" which would deal with civilian matters — masked villains and the like.[9] Commander Jeb Stuart would lead the military side to deal with national and international crises.[9] Though Argent's recorded activity ceased after 1960, Stuart's Suicide Squad continued on.[10] Eventually, Flag sacrificed himself in stopping the former Blackhawks' nemesis, the War Wheel.[7][11]

Rick Flag Jr.

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Rick Flag Jr.
 
Rick Flag Jr., as he appeared on the cover of Suicide Squad #49 (February 2019).
Art by David A. Williams and Kelsey Shannon.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceThe Brave and the Bold #25 (September 1959)
Created byRobert Kanigher
Ross Andru
In-story information
Alter egoRichard Rogers Flag Jr.
Team affiliationsUS Air Force
Task Force X
Suicide Squad
Forgotten Heroes
Navy SEALs
AbilitiesSkilled military leader, strategiest, and skilled in armed and unarmed combat

Flag was replaced in the Squad by his now-grown son Richard Rogers Flag. Young Rick headed a new, public team which included his girlfriend, Karin Grace, Dr. Hugh Evans, and Jess Bright.[12] In one tragic mission in Cambodia they were pursued by a Yeti. Evans and Bright and the Yeti fell into a crevasse, presumably to their deaths.[13] Bright survived, angered at being left behind.

Bright, frostbitten and near-death, was found by the Chinese who nursed him back to health. He was then passed onto the Russians who transformed him into the bionic monster called Koshchei the Deathless. With his expertise in engineering, Bright assisted in the creation of the Rocket Red Brigade and lent a hand to the nation of Qurac in assembling their metahuman team, the Onslaught. Grace also secretly bore Flag's son and placed him with an adoptive family. Later, Rick was sent to infiltrate the Forgotten Heroes as a spy for the government.[14] After the "death" of the Forgotten Heroes' leader, the Immortal Man, the team disbanded and Flag worked covertly for the U.S. government.[15]

Rick Flag Jr. was then tapped by the government to lead the new Suicide Squad as formed by Amanda Waller, a role he reluctantly assumed. Immediately, Rick showed signs of instability, which were worsened when Karin Grace became the team's medic. Flag hated working with the criminals under his command, and resented the notion that he and Deadshot were alike in any way.[7]

There were bright points amongst the Suicide Squad however, as the team was not completely filled with criminals. Nightshade, although she resented Flag at first when she was forced to become an accessory to murder when she became an undercover operative in the Jihad, grew attracted to him. She was never able to admit her feelings to him however, and he took no notice.

Flag also held good relationships with Nemesis and the Bronze Tiger, even though both were in some ways opposed to Flag. Although Nemesis had feelings for Nightshade, something to which Flag was oblivious, he stepped out of the way and respected Nightshade's feelings. Similarly, the Tiger was originally tapped to become the Squad's leader, but was instead replaced by Flag, something that the Tiger had no problems with.

The loyalty Flag had towards his teammates and Waller was evident in the fact that he did not shy away from a conflict with the Justice League to free Nemesis from Soviet captivity. He also threatened a bureaucrat who was threatening Waller's position.

This did nothing to ease Flag's mental instability, and it soon worsened. Flag led a different Squad in a deadly mission involving the Doom Patrol in which he was the only survivor.[16] The death of Karin Grace also served to amplify this and it came to a head when US Senator Cray threatened to reveal the existence of the Suicide Squad to the public.

Unbeknownst to him, Amanda Waller had already dealt with the threat, and Flag set out to assassinate Cray to ensure the existence of the Suicide Squad, even though he loathed some of its members. The Squad set out to stop him, with the clearance to do so by any means necessary. The villain Deadshot found Flag and Cray, but instead of killing Flag, Deadshot instead murdered the senator. Flag was forced to flee, and unwittingly, the existence of the Suicide Squad was still revealed.

Flag set out to destroy the Jihad team once and for all after learning that his father had previously attacked their stronghold, Jotunheim, during World War II to neutralise a Nazi prototype nuclear weapon. He left a note to Nightshade detailing his plans. The bomb was still there, buried under rubble and the Jihad were unaware of its presence. Flag sneaked in and killed his way through to the bomb itself. He battled the Jihad's leader Rustam personally, just before the bomb exploded.

After his death, Flag appeared in an issue of Captain Atom, where his soul was saved from an eternity in Purgatory and reunited with Karin in Paradise. His Purgatory self also appears in the Day of Judgement limited series. Along with other Purgatory bound souls, he battles heavenly agents on the behalf of still living superheroes. His rebellious actions earned him another after-life chance.[citation needed]

One Year Later in Checkmate (vol. 2) #6, Rick Flag is revealed to be alive and is rescued from a secret Quraci prison by the Bronze Tiger.[7] He had been imprisoned there for four years until Amanda Waller discovered him and alerted the Tiger to his whereabouts. Rick was later revealed to be leading a clandestine Suicide Squad unit at the behest of Amanda Waller, and against the expressed mandate of the Checkmate organization.

As seen in Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag #2, Rustam used his Scimitar to teleport both Rick Flag and himself to Skartaris. In Raise the Flag #5, General Wade Eiling admits that Rick Flag Jr. is not actually the son of Rick Flag Sr., but is a soldier named Anthony Miller who was brainwashed by Eiling into believing he was Flag's son. Miller's conditioning means that Eiling still has control of him, and uses him as part of his takeover of the Suicide Squad. Forced to activate an explosive implant in Amanda Waller's brain, Miller breaks free from his mind control enough to activate Eiling's implant instead, leaving him helpless enough to be captured. Confronted with the possibility to give up his presumed identity and return home, Miller decides that the Suicide Squad needs a Rick Flag, and refuses the offer.

Rick Flag III

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Rick Flag III
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceSuicide Squad #48 (December 1990)
Created byJohn Ostrander
Kim Yale
Geof Isherwood
Rick Flag Jr.'s young son by Karin Grace who also shared his name was kidnapped by Koschei the Deathless, a member of the Jihad, but was rescued by Nemesis of the Suicide Squad. Later, when Flag Jr. and Bronze Tiger visited Rick Flag III's adopted home, Flag Jr. refused to approach him.

Abilities

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Rick Flag Jr. is recognized for his exceptional abilities as a military pilot, as well as his proficiency in military tactics, strategy, and leadership. The character possesses extensive combat and special operations training, demonstrating expertise in both unarmed and armed combat. Additionally, Rick Flag Jr. is well-versed in utilizing a wide range of weaponry commonly employed by soldiers within the United States military.[3]

In other media

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Television

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Film

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  • Rick Flag Sr. appears in Justice League: The New Frontier, voiced by Lex Lang. This version is Hal Jordan's instructor and co-pilot during a mission to Mars. Additionally, a young Rick Flag Jr. makes a non-speaking cameo appearance.
  • Rick Flag Jr. appears in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film Suicide Squad, portrayed by Joel Kinnaman.[19] This version is a Special Forces officer. He is hired by Amanda Waller to watch over June Moone, with whom he falls in love, and is later tasked with leading the Suicide Squad on field missions. After Moone is taken over by the Enchantress, he leads the squad on a mission to save her and foil the witch's plan to conquer the world.
    • Flag appears in The Suicide Squad, with Kinnaman reprising his role.[20] He leads a new iteration of the squad on a mission to destroy a Corto Maltesean laboratory called Jötunheim that is conducting inhumane experiments via the alien Starro. After learning the U.S. government secretly funded the experiments, Flag attempts to retrieve a hard drive containing the information and leak it, only to be killed by squad member Peacemaker, whom Waller secretly assigned to scrub the information.

DC Universe

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Rick Flag Sr. will appear in media set in the DC Universe, portrayed by Frank Grillo.[21]

Video games

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References

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  1. ^ Ostrander, John (2011). Suicide Squad - Trial by Fire. DC Comics. ISBN 978-1-4012-3005-0.
  2. ^ "Rick Flag". DC. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  3. ^ a b The DC comics encyclopedia: The definitive guide to the characters of the DC universe. Matthew K. Manning, Stephen Wiacek, Melanie Scott, Nick Jones, Landry Q. Walker, Alan Cowsill (New ed.). New York, New York: DK Publishing. 2021. ISBN 978-0-7440-2056-4. OCLC 1253363543.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ Ostrander, John (w), McDonnell, Luke (p), Hunt, Dave (i). "The Secret Origin of the Suicide Squad" Secret Origins, vol. 2, no. 14, p. 6 (May, 1987). DC Comics.
  5. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  6. ^ Ostrander, John (w), McDonnell, Luke (p), Hunt, Dave (i). "The Secret Origin of the Suicide Squad" Secret Origins, vol. 2, no. 14, p. 7/1 (May, 1987). DC Comics.
  7. ^ a b c d Wallace, Dan (2008). "Flag, Rich". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC 213309017.
  8. ^ Ostrander, John (w), McDonnell, Luke (p), Hunt, Dave (i). "The Secret Origin of the Suicide Squad" Secret Origins, vol. 2, no. 14, p. 7-9 (May, 1987). DC Comics.
  9. ^ a b Ostrander, John (w), McDonnell, Luke (p), Hunt, Dave (i). "The Secret Origin of the Suicide Squad" Secret Origins, vol. 2, no. 14, p. 8 (May, 1987). DC Comics.
  10. ^ Ostrander, John (w), McDonnell, Luke (p), Hunt, Dave (i). "The Secret Origin of the Suicide Squad" Secret Origins, vol. 2, no. 14, p. 9 (May, 1987). DC Comics.
  11. ^ Ostrander, John (w), McDonnell, Luke (p), Hunt, Dave (i). "The Secret Origin of the Suicide Squad" Secret Origins, vol. 2, no. 14, p. 14/5 (May, 1987). DC Comics.
  12. ^ Ostrander, John (w), McDonnell, Luke (p), Hunt, Dave (i). "The Secret Origin of the Suicide Squad" Secret Origins, vol. 2, no. 14, p. 19 (May, 1987). DC Comics.
  13. ^ Ostrander, John (w), McDonnell, Luke (p), Hunt, Dave (i). "The Secret Origin of the Suicide Squad" Secret Origins, vol. 2, no. 14, p. 26 (May, 1987). DC Comics.
  14. ^ Ostrander, John (w), McDonnell, Luke (p), Hunt, Dave (i). "The Secret Origin of the Suicide Squad" Secret Origins, vol. 2, no. 14, p. 27 (May, 1987). DC Comics.
  15. ^ Ostrander, John (w), McDonnell, Luke (p), Hunt, Dave (i). "The Secret Origin of the Suicide Squad" Secret Origins, vol. 2, no. 14, p. 28/1 (May, 1987). DC Comics.
  16. ^ Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad #1 (1988). DC Comics.
  17. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (February 8, 2024). "Suicide Squad Isekai Anime Reveals More Cast Members". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  18. ^ Gee, Jeremy (July 6, 2024). "Crazy to say that I'm part of the DC universe, but I am! I play Rick Flag in Suicide Squad Isekai! Check it out on Hulu, new episodes weekly! #voiceactor #dcuniverse #anime". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  19. ^ Jeff Sneider (February 13, 2015). "Joel Kinnaman to Replace Tom Hardy as Rick Flagg in WB's 'Suicide Squad'". The Wrap.
  20. ^ Kit, Borys (July 10, 2019). "Storm Reid Joins Idris Elba in James Gunn's 'The Suicide Squad'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  21. ^ Gonzalez, Umberto (April 12, 2023). "Frank Grillo to Play the DCU's Rick Flag in 'Creature Commandos' (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  22. ^ Massoto, Erick (January 31, 2023). "'Creature Commandos': Meet the Cast of the New DC Animated Series". Collider. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  23. ^ Kit, Borys (January 31, 2023). "DC Slate Unveiled: New Batman, Supergirl Movies, a Green Lantern TV Show, and More from James Gunn, Peter Safran". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  24. ^ Hermanns, Grant (February 12, 2024). "Frank Grillo Talks Lights Out, His Close Friendship With Mekhi Phifer & DCU Future". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on February 13, 2024. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  25. ^ Behbahkt, Andy (June 25, 2024). "Superman Set Photos Confirm DCU Crossover & First Major Story Reveal". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on June 26, 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  26. ^ Moreau, Jordan (May 10, 2024). "Frank Grillo Joins 'Peacemaker' Season 2 as Rick Flag Sr". Variety.
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