Frank Grillo defends Rick Flag Sr. after learning he’s one of the DCU’s most hated characters

Frank Grillo, best known lately as Rick Flag Sr. in DC's Peacemaker, has had a bit of a shock: apparently, fans now see his character as the most loathed bloke in the DC Universe. Not that he agrees with them — and to be honest, seeing Grillo get stuck in when people start whinging about his character is a bit of fun on its own.

The "Most Hated" Label

This all kicked off on the red carpet for Tulsa King series four — yes, we’re four seasons deep on that now — when MovieWeb cornered Grillo to inform him that Rick Flag Sr. has become DC's current pantomime villain. Grillo looked genuinely thrown by that idea:

Right now, I am? I didn’t know that!

Apparently, the issue is how Rick Flag Sr. treats Christopher Smith (Peacemaker, if you’re more familiar with the helmet than the man underneath). The interviewer poked Grillo about the character's feud with Smith, but he wasn’t having it. His defence? Frankly, stone-cold:

Peacemaker killed my son! Let me help you here. He murdered my son, my child.

When it was pointed out to Grillo that Smith actually feels properly tormented over what he did, Grillo batted that aside with a not particularly sympathetic, 'Whose problem is it, mine or yours? You’re crazy.'

The Backstory: Revenge Isn't Just a Comic Trope

Before fans rush to dole out the villainy prize, let’s stroll back through the rather grim events that set all this off. In James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker (that’s Christopher Smith, played by John Cena) kills Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman) pretty brutally during their mission in Corto Maltese. What’s the motive? Well, Flag Jr. finds out the US government’s hiding its involvement with Project Starfish, and Peacemaker, being the blindly obedient sort, offs him to keep the secret quiet. It’s not exactly subtle — he’s following orders, but he’s also a grown man with his own moral compass. That murder gives Flag Sr. a brutal personal stake. Think of it as the angriest version of a family dispute you’ll find on telly right now.

Most of the action in Peacemaker series two is built on Flag Sr.'s unfiltered rage and his quest for what he sees as justice. He chases down Peacemaker and, in episode five, absolutely goes for it with a savage interrogation. It all comes to a head in the season finale, where Flag Sr. ships Smith off to Salvation — not a fresh start, but an alien planet (and not exactly a holiday destination). Plenty of viewers reckon this is out of order, though plenty also back him. The criticism, it seems, is that maybe revenge has gone far enough. But for Grillo — and arguably for Flag Sr. — that sense of loss trumps everything else.

• Frank Grillo says Rick Flag Sr. is justified because Peacemaker killed his son, Rick Flag Jr., in The Suicide Squad.

Of course, Smith’s guilt is a major aspect. He’s not exactly skipping through the daisies after his rather hefty decision. But, as Grillo points out, grieving fathers tend not to keep a tally of who’s sorry about what. Their clash is the engine that drives season two from start to finish, and that’s not changing just because people are fussing on the internet.