Rick Flag was one of only four characters from David Ayer's 2016 film to return for James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, along with Harley Quinn, Amanda Waller and Boomerang, but things didn't work out so well for the honourable military man.
Unfortunately, Corto Maltese marked Flag's final mission, as he was killed by Peacemaker (John Cena) after threatening to leak the Starro files. While it wouldn't exactly be unheard of for a comic book movie character to return from the dead, we had assumed that the chances of seeing Kinnaman back in the role were very slim.
Then, in Peacemaker season 2, Kinnaman did indeed reprise the role as a far less confident and capable alternate universe take on Flag.
We expected this "variant" of Rick Flag Jr. to play some kind of role in the final confrontation between Chris Smith and Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), but it wasn't to be.
Now, Kinnaman has admitted that he doesn't think we'll be seeing his take on Flag Jr. in the DCU again.
"Yeah, I would say so," the actor told Screen Rant when asked if Peacemaker season 2 was the last we'll be seeing of his character. "An alternate universe, mealy-mouthed Rick, as me and James called him."
Kinnaman also revealed what led to his return in the HBO Max series.
"We're friends, so we talk every now and then. He just called me and asked if I wanted to come in, and he was like, 'This is this little fun thing I'd love for you to do.' And I was like, 'Yeah, I'll come play with you anytime.'"
Kinnaman had remained tight-lipped when asked about his potential Peacemaker return during interviews in the buildup to the show's premiere, which he found difficult to do.
"I'm very bad at keeping secrets. Always when I was shooting The Suicide Squad stuff, I felt like the only ones who care about secrets were people that are involved with the superhero stuff. So they were always on me with any interviews because I would spoil stuff in them. But since I don't really have social media anymore, it's a lot easier to not make those mistakes."
Some fans feel that not integrating Flag into the feud between his father and Peacemaker was a mistake, but it's always possible that Kinnaman simply didn't want to return for an expanded role.
"The new season follows Christopher 'Chris' Smith, aka Peacemaker, the vigilante Super Hero as he struggles to reconcile his past with his newfound sense of purpose while continuing to kick righteous evil-doer butt in his misguided quest for peace at any cost.
In season 2, Peacemaker discovers an alternate world where life is everything he wishes it could be. But this discovery also forces him to face his traumatic past and take the future into his own hands.”