After weeks of speculation, Stargirl series creator and showrunner Geoff Johns confirmed that the classic DC Comics villain Solomon Grundy would indeed appear in the upcoming DC Universe live-action series. Grundy was rumored to make an appearance since the debut of Stargirl's extended promo on The CW last month in which a shadowy, hulking figure is seen lumbering menacingly in a swamp. Toeing the line between sinister villain and tragic antihero, Solomon Grundy has become one of the more popular antagonists in DC's extensive catalog of characters, and one of the comic book publisher's oldest still in wide usage, having made his debut in 1944.
Created by Alfred Bester and Paul Reinman in All-American Comics #61, Cyrus Gold was a wealthy socialite who was murdered and left to rot in Slaughter Swamp just outside of Gotham City in the late 19th century. Over the subsequent fifty years, Gold's body was infused with mystical properties from the swampy waters before rising from his grave as an undead behemoth with no memory of his previous life other than he was born on a Monday.
Dubbed "Solomon Grundy" after the nursery rhyme whose titular character was also born on a Monday, the zombified Gold used his supernaturally enhanced strength to carry out violent crimes. This caused him to become a villain of Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott. Alan's Power Ring weakened against the wooden swamp residue infused in Grundy's body.
After multiple confrontations with Green Lantern, Grundy would hold a deep grudge against the superhero, leading him to become a threat to the entire Justice Society of America and All-Star Squadron. After the heroes and villains of the JSA's Earth-2 began to regularly cross over with the main DCU's characters on Earth-1, Grundy would occasionally be drawn into conflicts against Earth-1 heroes before being integrated into the main DCU's continuity following Crisis on Infinite Earths.
The Post-Crisis Solomon Grundy was more associated with Batman than Green Lantern. He lurked in the sewers under Gotham as a savagely monstrous urban legend before the Dark Knight confirmed his existence. Grundy befriended Harvey Dent shortly after the former district attorney transformed into the scarred villain Two-Face, coaxed by Harvey reciting Grundy's namesake nursery rhyme. It was later revealed that every time Grundy died, he was cursed to be resurrected again in Slaughter Swamp undead and bearing a new personality.
These personality changes led to everything from more sympathetic versions of the character to an intelligent -- but no less sinister -- Grundy who attempted to transfer his consciousness permanently into an android body before being thwarted by the Justice League. The New 52 incarnation of Grundy revealed the villain to be an avatar for the Grey, the undead counterpart force to flora's Green and fauna's Red. Cyrus Gold was revealed to be a mass-murderer who had committed suicide in Slaughter Swamp in 1898 leading to his undead return, but it is unclear if this history remained intact during the DC Rebirth era.
We don't know if Solomon Grundy will be operating alone in Stargirl or if he will be part of the insidious Injustice Society. The undead figure might not be a villain at all. But with many of the Justice Society's members poised to appear alongside Courtney Whitmore in the new series, they will likely find that the former Cyrus Gold is a threat not to be underestimated.
Arriving in spring 2020, DC Universe's Stargirl stars Brec Bassinger as Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl), Joel McHale as Sylvester Pemberton (Starman), Brian Stapf as Ted Grant (Wildcat), Lou Ferrigno Jr. as Rex Tyler (Hourman) and Meg DeLacy as Cindy Burman, with Anjelika Washington, Yvette Monreal and Christopher James Baker as undisclosed DC characters.