The DC Universe sure looked a lot different in The Rookie season 8, episode 14, “Tiger Bear.” The latest episode of the ABC series featured Nathan Fillion’s Officer John Nolan meeting a new character, Gus, played by Freddie Stroma. DC fans know Stroma for his role as Adrian Chase/Vigilante in the HBO Max series Peacemaker. Fillion, meanwhile, is known in the DCU for playing Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, with his first appearance in the role being in 2025’s Superman movie.
Fillion’s Nolan meets Stroma’s Gus in The Rookie at the Mid-Wilshire police station during an ongoing investigation about a dead body found at a high school. Stroma plays Gus, the mostly absent and misguided father of Dash, a boy at the school. Dash is a recurring character who has come to view Fillion’s Nolan as a father-figure of sorts. So when Stroma’s Gus makes his first appearance and shows up at the station to pick up his son, his presence isn’t exactly reassuring.
While Stroma’s presence isn’t comforting for Dash, played by Beckett Hawley, it was a treat for DC fans. It was like watching a weird alternate reality of the DC Universe where Guy Gardner was more akin to the mild-mannered, do-good nature of Clark Kent and Adrian Chase was still a charismatic loser of sorts — but not in an affectionate way and without Vigilante’s fighting skills. That’s part of what made Stroma’s appearance on The Rookie so fun, though.
Gus isn’t a great dad, but Stroma’s innate charm makes the character easy to tolerate even if you’re frustrated with his parenting skills. And it’s not out of the question to think that, if Adrian Chase were to have become a parent at a young age and been tasked with raising a teenager, then maybe Gus is who he would have been like. Gus is involved with a weird “Tiger Bear” whiskey-tequila start-up, and he wanted to use the money from it to buy Dash a car with a “Tiger Bear” on it. Both feel right in line with Vigilante’s naive and oblivious demeanor.
Meanwhile, Nolan is the mature, responsible adult who urges Gus to either change and be a proper father or leave Dash alone. It makes Fillion’s Nolan far from the rude, arrogant, and crass individual that Guy Gardner is.
What’s next for Nathan Fillion and Freddie Stroma in the DCU
On The Rookie, Fillion and Stroma’s Nolan and Gus are essentially on the same side. They both want what’s best for Dash — even if they have different ideas and approaches on how to achieve that. Even so, they at least get along in a general sense, and Gus seems to respect Nolan. But that’s probably far from the case for their respective characters in the DCU.
Interestingly enough, Fillion and Stroma haven’t truly worked together in any DC projects. Fillion’s Green Lantern makes a cameo in Peacemaker, but he doesn’t actually interact with Stroma’s Vigilante. Guy doesn’t get along with John Cena’s Chris Smith/Peacemaker, but Adrian is Chris’s self-proclaimed best friend. So it’s tough to imagine Adrian would think or act fondly toward Guy.
Fillion will reprise his role as Guy in the upcoming HBO Max series Lanterns, which is set to debut in August. Stroma was last seen in the DCU in Peacemaker season 2 as part of the Checkmate organization. There has been no word on a season 3 or when Stroma will reprise that role. When speaking to The Direct, Stroma said he doesn’t know when he’ll be back as Vigilante.
Nevertheless, hopefully, Stroma gets to return to the DCU sooner rather than later. As nice a surprise as it was to see him show up in The Rookie, his take on Vigilante is missed.