Home Movie News James Gunn Says Condiment King Isn’t Part of DCU Plans

The bizarre Batman villain Condiment King isn’t getting his own movie in the DCU anytime soon.

Warner Bros.

There will be some big changes ahead for the future of the DCU after James Gunn and Peter Safran were brought in to steer the ship, but while this opens the door for some new characters from the world of DC to be brought in, there’s one in particular fans shouldn’t expect to see. While Gunn himself has been known to call up some of the more obscure characters from comic book lore to appear in his projects, with some lesser-known names appearing in The Suicide Squad, he’s stopping short of bringing the supervillain Condiment King into the DCU. It’s a declaration Gunn made when a fan of the saucy villain asked for Condiment King to be utilized one way or another for the DCU’s upcoming slate.
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“No,” Gunn bluntly told the fan in response.

Sadly, this means that there won’t be a solo film for Condiment King, which very well could have been on par with the success of Joker had the film been made. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t still see the character popping up outside of the DCU, for what it’s worth. He has had a presence in various animated projects, with Bobcat Goldthwait recently voicing the supervillain in DC Super Hero Girls. He also made an appearance in the HBO Max animated series Harley Quinn with Alan Tudyk voicing him. But there hasn’t been a live-action version of Condiment King in any official DC movies or TV shows, though Gotham producer John Stephens has said that he tried to get the amusing character to appear in the series.

“I’ve been trying to get Condiment King in for five years, but every time I pitch Condiment King, people are like, ‘we’re not going to be doing Condiment King,'” Stephens told ComicBook.com in 2018, suggesting there’s always been pushback to use the underutilized baddie.

Related: Kevin Conroy Will Voice Batman for the Final Time in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Condiment King Will Be Left Out of the DCU

DC Comics

Like the immensely popular Harley Quinn, Condiment King was created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for Batman: The Animated Series, having not existed in the previous comic books. While intended to be a joke character, he was interesting enough to later start appearing in other mediums, such as the Batgirl: Year One comic book series. He is typically used for comic relief, as he doesn’t often pose much danger with various condiments serving as his weapon of choice. The original incarnation’s origin story was that he was a rival comedian who was brainwashed by the Joker into becoming Gotham’s most ridiculous supervillain as a way of payback.

Condiment King: The Movie may not come to be anytime soon, but as the future of the DCU continues to be planned out by James Gunn and Peter Safran, let’s hope there are other big projects involving other beloved heroes and villains that will soon be announced for fans to anticipate.