Warning: contains spoilers for Outsiders #9!

DC just brought back one of their most bizarre superheroes, one I thought we would never see again–and now I cannot help but to wonder if there are DCEU plans for them. DC’s Outsiders title has taken readers on an odyssey through the forgotten corners of their universe. Now, in issue nine, the team unearths one of the book’s deepest cuts to date.

Outsiders #9 is written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Robert Carey. The team has come to the realm of the Lords of Chaos and Order. Nabu, representing the Lords of Order, informs Luke Fox about the history of the Cannon. Created by Dream’s older brother Destiny, it was built to destroy reality should the Lords of Chaos get out of control.

Nabu goes on to say the Cannon will “burn the books of the Multiversal Library,” books which have been fought over “since the time of Anthro.”

Anthro Is One of DC’s Oddest Characters

Later Creators, Such as Grant Morrison, Gave Anthro Cosmic Importance

Across their 80-plus year history, DC has featured characters in a wide variety of genres, including westerns and war–but Anthro might be the oddest character in the publisher’s stable. The first Cro-Magnon, Anthro, fought to survive in Earth’s prehistoric past. Created by Howard Post, Anthro would later be ascribed cosmic significance in Grant Morrison’s 2008 Final Crisis. There, Metron, of the New Gods, gave the gift of fire to Anthro, and, by extension, humanity. Later, at the event’s conclusion, an elderly Anthro is watched over by a time-displaced Bruce Wayne, implying that the heroic circle is now closed.

Yet Outsiders #9 revisits Anthro for the first time in years, expanding upon the role Morrison gave him in Final Crisis. The Multiversal Library, mentioned here for the first time, has been contested by the Lords of Chaos and Order for eons. Nabu invokes Anthro to give an idea of just how long this conflict has been brewing. The Lords of Chaos and Order both use mortal intermediaries in their affairs, such as Kent Nelson or Kid Eternity. Anthro, with his position as the “first” human, would make an ideal servant for the Lords of Order.

Anthro Still Has Vast, Untapped Potential in the DC Universe

Could He Even Appear In the DCEU?

After Anthro’s first appearance in 1968’s Showcase #74, he headlined his own book for six issues before being relegated to limbo, and his mention in Outsiders #9 shows the character’s potential. Morrison attempted to boost Anthro by making him not only the first human, but the first hero as well. Anthro struggled to bring justice to a harsh and unforgiving world, and this, in the hands of the right creators, could translate into some of DC’s most compelling stories, be they in comics form or the DCEU.

Outsiders #9 is on sale now from DC Comics!