Warning: SPOILERS for The Suicide Squad.
The list of characters appearing in DC knowledge muscles this obscure supervillain, along with many of the other characters that he has pulled from the depths of the DC Comics.
If there is one thing Gunn is known for as a filmmaker, it's his ability to take lesser-known comic book characters and bring them into mainstream recognition. With Suicide Squad comics.
While he's made appearances in DC comics, first as an antagonist to the Green Lantern, and then later as a member of the Suicide Squad, Javelin never really achieved mainstream fame. Gunn's use of the character will certainly help to bring Javelin wider recognition, aided by his portrayal by a widely recognized triple threat: German actor, comedian, and musician, Flula Borg. Here's everything to know about Javelin's origin and powers.
Javelin's Comic Book Origins Explained extra
Javelin first came on the scene in Green Lantern #173 (1984) as a former professional athlete who became a villain for unclear reasons. Although his character was created in the '80s, during the Bronze Age of comics, much of his character seemed to resonate more with Silver Age villains because of the style of Green Lantern comics at the time. One could easily guess what kind of athlete he was before he began a life of committing crime, just from his name. What's most important about him, though, is the timing of his introduction into DC comics.
He was introduced in the lead-up to the Crisis on Infinite Earths stories and soon became an accomplice of the supervillain Monitor. Javelin was one of many villains Monitor was testing leading up to the crisis. His first break-out crime, and his first run-in with the Green Lantern, was when he was hired by Congressman Bloch to attack Ferris Aircrafts. On this criminal expedition to steal a solar engine, he encountered Green Lantern and his power for the first time. However, he did manage to get away. Regardless of Javelin's continued efforts, Green Lantern managed to stop him from launching his solar engine-turned aircraft, thus saving Ferris Aircrafts from ruin.
There have also been multiple occasions when Javelin has been killed in the comics, magically returning at a later date with little to no explanation. More important than his miraculous reappearance, though, is his original team up with the Suicide Squad. His first mission with the Suicide Squad was with Rick Flag when he went rogue and recruited Javelin by promising him his freedom. Not only was this a lie, but he was also to later be thwarted by the Justice League. This was the first time he ed the infamous team of villains, but it would not be his last.
Javelin's Comic Book Powers and Weapons Explained
The short story of Javelin's abilities is that he, well, throws javelins. He has a utility belt of small cylindrical poles that extend into different types of javelins when he pulls them out. As a former Olympic athlete, Javelin demonstrates peak human strength to help him in fights and he is extremely skilled with his weapon of choice. Don't be mistaken though, just because he's an athlete doesn't mean he's just muscle and athleticism, he's also a capable engineer.
His javelins aren't always ordinary in their abilities. He has a variety of them, each with unique properties. In his arsenal of pointy projectiles, he has everything from smoke javelins to explosive ones and even self-accelerating ones. While he might be written off as a minor villain with more simplistic powers, it's noteworthy that his skilled use of a weapon, peak abilities, and use of tech to enhance his weapon is similar to the MCU's portrayal of Hawkeye.
DCEU Javelin's Powers, Changes & Potential Future
The Suicide Squad's casting of a well-known German comedian as this DC supervillain is consistent with the comics where Javelin is noted to speak in a German dialect and is regularly assumed to be of German descent. The comedic portrayal also helps to sell the farcical nature of the film's opening gambit of multiple character deaths. As with many of the of Team 1, Javelin is demonstrated to be fairly useless within the DCEU. While he is shown to be in peak physical condition, the movie eschews the use of his more outlandish javelin technology. In place of high-tech gadgetry and expanding weaponry, Gunn has given Javelin a single very fancy version of his namesake.
It seems unlikely that Javelin will have much of a future within the DCEU as he is killed off in the first half-hour of the movie. Having flirted with Harley Quinn and made a connection with her, he is given a death scene at her side. This keeps him alive longer in the film's timeline than the majority of team 1, and as he es his javelin on to Harley, asking her to carry it, he arguably has more of a presence in the film than many of the other characters who die early (even Captain Boomerang is quickly forgotten).
While this makes it seem pretty unlikely that the character will appear again after his short stint in The Suicide Squad, it is not impossible. As the character has been casually killed off and resurrected without explanation in the comics, it does not seem beyond the realm of possibility that James Gunn could bring him back for further appearances as a fun reference to those early portrayals. After all, death in The Suicide Squad seems to carry little meaning as both after-credits scenes resurrect dead characters. Will Javelin appear and ask Harley for his weapon back in the future? Unlikely, but not impossible.
