Why Frank Grillo's Rick Flag Sr. Hair Won't Be White In Live-Action DCU Projects

This article contains mild spoilers for "Peacemaker" season 2.

Writer, director, and DC Studios co-head James Gunn has done fairly well maintaining some level of continuity in his new DC Universe (DCU), though he had to use the power of simple retcons to fix a few things about "Peacemaker" season 1 since it was created right at the end of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) era. The first show in the DCU was "Creature Commandos," an animated series that followed a group of monstrous antiheroes on loan from Belle Reve — as led by Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) — and served as an animated sequel of sorts to Gunn's "The Suicide Squad" film. Flag was drawn to look as much like Grillo as the style would allow, as he's since played the character in live-action, first in "Superman" and then in "Peacemaker" season 2. There's just one major difference: In the cartoon, Flag's hair and beard are silvery white, while in live-action, they're dark brown. So, what gives?

In an interview with GQ, Grillo shared that he wanted to go all-in and bleach his hair and beard white. Unfortunately, his commitment to filming the Taylor Sheridan series "Tulsa King" made that impossible. It really bothered the actor, but it turned out that Gunn had an in-universe reason for Flag's changed appearance that worked just fine. 

In a 2024 interview with Collider, Gunn said that while Grillo wanted to use temporary dye, he knew that using light temporary dye over dark hair would "look like s***." Luckily, he had already come up with a reason for Flag to have dark hair in "Superman" and "Peacemaker" season 2:

"[...] As you see from the series, Rick Flag Sr. is an incredibly vain man and easily swayed by women and his ego being attended to, so I think the guy dyes his hair. I think on season 2 of 'Peacemaker,' we got a dyed beard, and we also have a dyed hair, which is Rick Flag."

Gunn's "dyed bear" comment is a reference to Steve Agee's performance as John Economos, who confesses to dyeing his beard in an emotional reveal near the end of "Peacemaker" season 1. Mind you, although Economos and Flag have very different kinds of vanity, it totally makes sense for Flag to have started dyeing his hair after being promoted to head of A.R.G.U.S. following the events of "Creature Commandos."

While Gunn assured Grillo that it "wasn't a big deal" that he couldn't change his hair color, Grillo was surprised when he asked the filmmaker about letting it be white in a potential "Peacemaker" season 3. As he told GQ:

"But, the other night, the way I found out about the potential of something else is, I leaned into him, 'If we do season 3, I'm cutting my hair like yours and making it white,' and he goes, 'Can't do it. We have something else we have to do, and your hair needs to be like this. You don't know about it?' I go, 'No, I don't know, and I'm glad, so I can't spill the beans.' I'm the wrong guy to tell a secret to; I'm always almost getting fired from something. But it has to be something where it relates to hair!"

It sounds like Gunn has big plans for Flag, even if he has absolutely zero plans for a "Peacemaker" season 3 at the moment. Indeed, given that "Peacemaker" season 2 saw Flag essentially join forces with his former enemy Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), Grillo's dark-haired daddy is starting to look like he might actually be more of a baddie. We'll have to wait and see what role he plays (if any) in the "Superman" sequel "Man of Tomorrow," but I'd wager we're going to see Flag in that film, even if his alignment remains up in the air for the time being. For now, though, it seems we can safely assume Grillo won't be getting the "James Gunn special" from his barber anytime soon.

"Peacemaker" seasons 1 and 2 are currently streaming on HBO Max.