James Gunn's DCU may start to have a thing for masks. Since Creature Commandos launched Chapter One: Gods and Monsters on HBO Max, many major villain reveals in the franchise have kept the face hidden. Superman built its marketing almost entirely around a mystery figure in a black suit. Peacemaker Season 2 brought back a dead villain under a new helmet, and a different masked antagonist from Season 1 returned alongside him.
The DCU is adding another masked antagonist in its first film of 2026 with Krem of the Yellow Hills. The latest Supergirl trailer gave fans their clearest look yet at the film's villain, and he arrives in full metal-studded, bone-plated form. Matthias Schoenaerts plays Krem, a pirate and assassin who kicks off Kara Zor-El's brutal cross-universe chase when he poisons her dog Krypto with a poisoned arrow. This moment sets Supergirl in motion.
Milly Alcock's Kara and Eve Ridley's Ruthye, a girl whose father Krem murdered, pursue him through space before the June 26 release.
Krem of the Yellow Hills first appeared in Tom King and Bilquis Evely's 2021 DC Comics miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. In the comics, he looks entirely human.
He's a red-haired, red-bearded pirate and swordsman who kills Ruthye's father simply because the man didn't laugh at his joke.
DC Studios scrapped this comic book look entirely. Schoenaerts' Krem arrives on screen with his face covered in metal studs and scarring, less human than the comics drew him. Where comic Krem looked like a man who could blend into a tavern, the film version looks like something that crawled out of a wreck.
He leads the Brigands, a crew of space pirates and traffickers, and carries poisoned arrows in his quiver. He's not the strongest villain and doesn’t even possess any powers, but he's a menace.
Other Masked Villains That Have Appeared in James Gunn's DCU
Ultraman
Before anyone knew his name, Ultraman was a big part of the marketing campaign for James Gunn's Superman. Trailers featured a figure in a full-body black suit with a "U" insignia on his chest, trading blows with David Corenswet's Man of Steel. Merchandise confirmed the name Ultraman months before the film hit theaters on July 11, 2025.
The mask came off in the film's third act when Ultraman tore it away mid-fight to reveal Superman's own face staring back at him. Lex Luthor, played by Nicholas Hoult, explained that he'd combed Superman's old battlegrounds for years until he found a strand of hair, then cloned the Kryptonian from it. The result was physically as competent as Superman but had virtually no intellect, making him entirely dependent on Lex's instruction.
In DC Comics, Ultraman is the evil alternate-universe version of Superman from Earth-3, leader of the Crime Syndicate of America. Gunn borrowed the name and the dark-mirror concept but built a different origin around it. By the end of Superman, Ultraman is pulled into a black hole. Whether this masked menace returns, and how, is something many DCU fans are watching out for.
White Dragon
White Dragon is one of the most personal villains in James Gunn's DCU. In Peacemaker Season 1, he is Auggie Smith, portrayed by Robert Patrick: a white supremacist domestic terrorist who also happens to be Christopher Smith's father. His red-and-white armor, horned helmet included, is designed to look like the ideology beneath it: imposing and completely reprehensible. Peacemaker kills him by the end of Season 1.
Then, Season 2 brought the mask back. This version of White Dragon appeared in blue-and-white armor, the same horned helmet, but a redesigned color scheme. Through the show’s multiversal storyline, Peacemaker discovers an alternate dimension called Earth-2, a Nazi-ruled parallel world. There, Patrick returns as a heroic variant of Auggie Smith known as Blue Dragon. This version has the same face, but a very different moral compass. Where Season 1’s Auggie was rotten through and through, the Earth-2 version is the father Chris never had.
Bonus: Judomaster
Judomaster, played by Nhut Le, arrived in Peacemaker Season 1 as Senator Royland Goff's bodyguard and one of the show's most memorable recurring presences. He's masked, all-green suited, small, and absolutely devastating in a fight. He knocked Peacemaker around repeatedly, survived a gunshot, which, according to Peacemaker, he did by swapping his heart for a kidney (the show is what it is), and escaped custody more than once before ultimately siding against the 11th Street Kids.
His costume is a deliberate departure from the source material. In DC Comics, the original Judomaster, Hadley "Rip" Jagger, wore a suit based on the Japanese flag. Gunn said that putting a Vietnamese actor in a costume designed around the Japanese flag wasn't something he was going to do.
Bonus: White Rabbit
White Rabbit appeared for barely a minute in the first episode of Peacemaker Season 2, played by Brey Noelle. She walked out in tears, having just been turned away from Maxwell Lord’s Justice Gang audition. Lord’s microphone had malfunctioned during tryouts, leaving him to humiliate her in front of everyone. She appeared in a comic-accurate white and pink costume with bunny ears.
In DC Comics, White Rabbit is Jaina Hudson, a Gotham City socialite and former love interest of Bruce Wayne, introduced in Batman: The Dark Knight #1. Her power is bio-fission: she can physically separate herself into two distinct beings, Jaina Hudson and the White Rabbit, each with its own personality. As White Rabbit, her skin turns pale, her hair goes platinum, and she moves with enhanced speed. She has worked alongside Bane, Scarecrow, and the Wonderland Gang.
She’s never been a headliner, but the DCU cameo puts her inside the franchise. White Rabbit was turned away by the Justice Gang, which is its own kind of origin story. The chances of her reappearing in the DCU are slim, but if she does, it could be in a villain capacity after her dreams of being a hero were shattered.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
