Creature Commandos continues to reshape the DCU’s mythology by making bold narrative choices that directly impact different corners of the DC Universe. Episode 6 delivers perhaps the most shocking development yet by revealing the fate of Rupert Thorne (voiced by Benjamin Byron Davis), one of Gotham City’s most influential crime bosses. The episode explores Dr. Phosphorus’ (voiced by Alan Tudyk) origin story, showing how the brilliant scientist Alexander James Sartorius was transformed into a radioactive skeleton after being betrayed by Thorne, leading to a deadly confrontation that would permanently remove one of Batman’s classic villains from the board.
In the flashback sequences of Creature Commandos Episode 6, Dr. Alexander James Sartorius, a brilliant scientist studying radiation to find a cure for cancer, enters into a Faustian bargain with crime boss Rupert Thorne (voiced by Benjamin Byron Davis). The arrangement seems straightforward: Thorne provides funding for Alexander’s cancer research in exchange for nuclear experiment data that the mobster plans to sell to Bialya, an authoritarian nation seeking nuclear capabilities.
However, influenced by his wife’s experiences with an oppressive regime in her home country, Alexander makes the fateful decision to tamper with his research data. It’s a moral choice that ultimately leads to devastating consequences when Bialya discovers the deception, blaming Thorne. The gangster, in response, decides to punish Dr. Alexander for his transgressions. The revelation that Alexander’s wife suggested the data manipulation adds a layer of tragic irony to the story, as her attempt to prevent a brutal country from gaining nuclear weapons inadvertently sets off a chain of events that destroys her family.
Thorne’s retaliation against Alexander’s betrayal is depicted with unflinching brutality in Episode 6. The crime boss and his thugs murder Alexander’s wife and son, forcing the scientist to leave his fingerprints on their bodies and the murder weapon. The scene hammers home Thorne’s reputation as one of Gotham’s most ruthless criminals, showing why he remained a formidable Batman villain for decades in the comics.
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The horror escalates when Thorne’s men drag Alexander to his laboratory and seal him inside a nuclear testing vault, leaving him to die in what the police might decide is the horrible ending of a murder-suicide. However, instead of killing Alexander, the radiation transforms him into Dr. Phosphorus, a being of pure radioactive energy trapped in a skeletal form. The physical transformation mirrors Alexander’s psychological break, as the once-noble scientist becomes a vengeful sociopath consumed by thoughts of retribution.
Dr. Phosphorus’ revenge comes swiftly and terribly. The newly-created supervillain tracks down Thorne at his mansion, where he kills the crime boss and Thorne’s entire family, including his wife and two children. This shocking act of violence serves to show how Dr. Phosphorus’, the scientist who once worked to cure cancer, becomes something far worse than the mobster who destroyed his life.
Creature Commandos Episode 6 also shows Dr. Phosphorus’ rapid ascension in Gotham’s criminal hierarchy. He claims Thorne’s drug empire for himself, interrogating prisoners, eliminating rivals, and engaging in bloody shootouts across the city. His appearance at the Iceberg Lounge, the notorious club run by the Penguin, establishes his new status among Gotham’s elite criminals. However, his reign of terror eventually ends when Batman tracks him down, explaining how he ultimately ends up in Belle Reve prison before joining the Creature Commandos.
How Creature Commandos’ Rupert Thorne Teases the DCU’s Batman
The death of Rupert Thorne represents a significant shift in James Gunn’s DCU. Since his first appearance in 1977’s Detective Comics #469, Thorne has been a cornerstone of Batman’s rogues gallery, representing the intersection of political corruption and organized crime in Gotham City. His elimination from the board and Dr. Phosphorus’s brief rise to power suggest a changing criminal landscape where metahuman threats are replacing traditional mobsters.
This evolution of Gotham’s underworld also reinforces that the DCU’s Batman has been active long enough for significant changes to occur in his city’s criminal ecosystem. The replacement of human crime bosses with superhuman threats mirrors similar transformations in comic book history, where street-level criminals gradually gave way to more fantastic villains.
While it might seem premature to put a classic Batman villain in the ground, the death of Rupert Thorne is a key storytelling device to underline how the DCU’s Batman has nothing to do with the grounded version Matt Reeves’ has crafted The Batman. Considering that DC Studios doesn’t know what to do with its two Batmen, Creature Commandos’ spin on Thorne is reassuring fans that Batman will finally face superhuman threats in the DCU.
New episodes of Creature Commandos hit MAX every Thursday until January 9, 2025.
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