In superhero movies and TV shows, it's not always the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog. Spider-Man, a relatively scrawny hero, brings down villains much larger than him all the time. But being big does have its advantages; just look at the Hulk, who intimidates everyone with his size. DC has a few heroes like that, and a Galactus-sized one just had the green carpet rolled out for them by James Gunn and Co.
In HBO's Lanterns, John Stewart helped put together a funeral for his former mentor, Hal Jordan. The fallen hero got buried in his Green Lantern uniform and ring. And after everyone left the graveyard, John got to work: digging Hal up, taking his ring, and making contact with the "Halogram."
Episode 7, "The Jordan Boys Legacy," continues the conversation between John and the backup of Hal's consciousness. They discuss the funeral and how many people attended. John says the whole Green Lantern Corps showed up and lit up the night sky for their late friend. However, John makes a mistake by claiming that Mogo was present. Hal calls the rookie's bluff by revealing that Mogo is, in fact, a planet.
In an earlier episode in Lanterns, Hal name-dropped Mogo when he gave John the password to the pocket dimension in his house: "Mogo doesn't socialize," a reference to a classic Green Lantern story by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. But the HBO series has just taken things a step further by outright revealing that Mogo exists in James Gunn's DCU.
Although he can't police the universe like his fellow Corps members, Mogo plays a crucial role in the organization, guiding rings from fallen Green Lanterns to their new bearers. He also lets his surface serve as a training ground for his colleagues. These kind acts earn Mogo a better standing than other sentient comic book planets, such as Ego, who tried to take over the universe in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 after he gave Peter Quill's mother a terminal illness.
Of course, James Gunn also brought Ego to life, so he clearly has a soft spot for massive characters. And since he's the boss over at DC Studios, he doesn't have to stop at just Mogo. He can travel deep into DC Comics lore and pull out other gigantic figures with something to prove.
Large Heroes Who Could Be Next in Line for the DCU
Atom Smasher
Al Rothstein won the genetic lottery by inheriting his grandfather's ability to manipulate his molecular structure. The only problem was that his pappy was a supervillain, which meant he had to make up for his family's mistakes. Atom Smasher became a standout member of the Justice League, using his 60-foot frame to contain evil worldwide.
Atom Smasher sounds like a great candidate for James Gunn's DCU. But bringing him in might be tricky. Noah Centineo played the character in Black Adam (2022). And while Gunn has cherry-picked things he liked from the DCEU for his franchise, he didn't show Black Adam much love when it came out. It might be better for Atom Smasher to get a fresh start when his number is called.
Colossal Boy
With a name like Colossal Boy, it's fair to assume that the character has been around for a while. Gim Allon debuted in Action Comics #267 in 1960 as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes who could increase his size. Over the years, the hero's origins have changed. However, he's always ended up back with the Legion and stood for all things good.
The Legion of Super-Heroes feels like a team James Gunn has big plans for. For starters, all the members hail from the future, giving anyone working on their stories plenty of creative freedom. They also have strange powers, and no one appreciates an odd ability more than Gunn. When the Legion makes its DCU debut, it's hard to imagine a scenario where Colossal Boy doesn't get a Flight Ring.
The Spectre
Before the DCU, the Arrowverse was doing the heavy lifting for DC, releasing season after season of superhero TV. Things were going so well over at The CW that the powers that be were able to pull off an adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths. During the crossover event, Oliver Queen died and was resurrected as a cosmic being known as The Spectre. His newfound power allowed him to battle the Anti-Monitor and rebirth the Multiverse.
Since the Arrowverse's Spectre didn't stick around for long, he didn't get to show off his full arsenal, including his ability to grow as large as a mountain. James Gunn's franchise feels like it's setting the stage for beings on the Spectre's level. That means it's only a matter of time before there's a more faithful live-action adaptation of the powerful character.
Thought Robot
Speaking of Crisis on Infinite Earths, the two characters at the center of that story were the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor. In DC Comics' Final Crisis, the Monitor played a major role, as it came to light that an alternate version of himself created a weapon called the Thought Robot to protect reality in the event he went rogue. Unfortunately, that day came, and the Thought Robot was deployed, taking the form of Superman and being massive in size.
The Thought Robot sounds like a concept even too outlandish for comic books. But if anyone can pull it off in live action, it's James Gunn. Needless to say, Superman probably needs a few more projects before he's ready to share the skies with a gigantic metal version of himself.
