With his three Guardians of the Galaxy movies, James Gunn proved without a doubt that he can bring animal characters to life in tremendous fashion. Rocket Raccoon, Cosmo the Spacedog, and Lylaa were superb in Gunn’s Marvel Cinematic Universe offerings.
DC boasts a plethora of weird and wonderful animal characters, and Gunn has the opportunity to introduce several of them in his upcoming DC Universe franchise.
Five movies are already confirmed, and Gunn’s DCU can be a veritable cornucopia of fantastic beasts and critters, from heroic dogs to evil cats and noble insects to primates of varying moral alignments. These six are just some of the brilliant animal characters he should introduce to live-action movie audiences.
Dex-Starr
Dex-Starr is the designated name of Dexter, a street cat adopted by a lady in Brooklyn. When a burglar kills his adoptive owner, and Dexter is thrown out of the house by the investigating police, he gets tossed off the Brooklyn Bridge by a pair of street criminals. The rage he feels attracts a Red Lantern ring to him, and he becomes a member of the Red Lantern Corps. He uses his newfound power to murder the two thugs and declares himself a “good kitty” before sleeping on their bones. Dex-Starr is as sadistic as any Red Lantern, which is impressive, given their vicious roster. Handing the reins of his character to James Gunn would be quite something. Gunn’s Dex-Starr would be like Rocket Raccoon on acid.
Gorilla Grodd
Gorilla Grodd is an evil, super-intelligent gorilla whose mighty psionic powers of telepathy and telekinesis manifested when he was exposed to radiation from a mysterious meteorite. He has appeared in live-action in the Arrowverse television series The Flash but has yet to make his live-action film debut. He’s primarily an enemy of the Flash. Still, he has fought many heroes and joined several supervillain teams, meaning there are many options to explore with him, and he could create turmoil in the DCU’s heroic ranks with his mental manipulation. With his physical and mental might, he’s a formidable villain – the type James Gunn would do a superb job of bringing to life. Far from being a cuddly character, he’d be imposing in the mold of Gunn’s MCU antagonists Ronan the Accuser and the High Evolutionary, whom the director did a fantastic job with.
Detective Chimp
Now, this is a character comic book movie fans should be begging James Gunn to work his magic with. Detective Chimp is precisely what his name suggests: a super-intelligent chimpanzee who wears a deerstalker and works as a Sherlock Holmes-esque detective. While he often works with an organization known as the Bureau of Amplified Animals, he also works alone and in superhero circles alongside traditional DC heroes like the Justice League. Gunn could make the DCU’s Detective Chimp every bit as likable, snarky, intelligent, and tough as he made Rocket Raccoon – and the toy sales alone would make his introduction worth it for DC and Warner Bros.
Bzzd
The Green Lanterns are coming to the DC Universe, and it would be great to see Bzzd as a member. While he’s not an animal per se – he’s a fly-like insectoid alien – he’s undoubtedly the kind of creature character James Gunn would do a terrific job of bringing to life. Bzzd has a few characteristics that make him ideal for Gunn’s quirky humor – namely, his partnership with the planet-sized Green Lantern Mogo, which could be presented as a Rocket and Groot-type bizarre-but-endearing relationship, and his tendency to say funny things when he’s fighting bad guys, which Gunn’s characters all have in common.
Ace the Bat-Hound
With The Brave and the Bold – a movie about the Bat-Family – coming to James Gunn’s DC Universe, Gunn would be foolish not to include Ace the Bat-Hound in the franchise. Ace is a crimefighting dog – depicted in comic books as a German Shepherd, Great Dane, and Bull Mastiff, depending on the story and era – who assists Batman, Robin, the extended Bat-Family, and other animal superheroes in combating evil. Everyone loves dogs, and Gunn would ensure Ace was a terrific character who had likable traits, whether he could speak or not. In one comic, Ace sleeps next to Bruce Wayne when Wayne experiences night terrors, and he often inspires Batman when he loses his will to fight. That would be a lovely way to present the canine character in a live-action setting.
Krypto the Superdog
The DC Universe represents an excellent opportunity to bring many unused Kryptonian characters into a live-action movie setting. Krypto the Superdog would be a perfect Kryptonian character for James Gunn to get his hands on. Cosmo the Spacedog proved Gunn could depict good-aligned canine characters brilliantly, and Krypto would be no different. With a translator implanted in his ear, Krypto communicates with Superman, his adoptive owner, Kevin Whitney, and fellow animal characters. It would be great to see Gunn bring the iconic heroic mutt to life in the DCU with a distinct personality and voice. Heck, if multiple animal heroes are introduced, Gunn could start a live-action team!
