Tonight’s episode of Watchmen on HBO was a complete flashback telling the origin story of Hooded Justice, including when Captain Metropolis enlisted him into the Minutemen.
While Captain Metropolis was the leader of the Minutemen, he never appeared in Zack Snyder’s movie and is a new character for everyone but comic book fans.
Here is what you need to know about Captain Metropolis
Captain Metropolis is a slight variation of a superhero like Captain America in the Watchmen universe.
None of the superheroes had actual powers in the world of Watchmen until Doctor Manhattan. That includes both Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis.
On tonight’s episode, Nelson Gardner paid a visit to a young Will Reeves, who it turned out was Hooded Justice — the world’s first costumed vigilante.
Gardner “represented” Captain Metropolis and the Minutemen and he believed that Will knew who Hooded Justice was. He thought Will was a police officer who fed Hooded Justice information.
However, Gardner, who really was Captain Metropolis, realized that Will was Hooded Justice. The two became not only partners in the Minutemen but also gay lovers.
The catch was that Will had to hide his identity from his other teammates because Captain Metropolis said they were not as tolerant.
This was possibly true, but it was also a cover because Captain Metropolis was a pure conservative, despite his closeted homosexuality, and also had no love for black people, outside of Will who he was infatuated with.
This is also how things played out in the Watchmen comics.
Nelson Gardner was a war hero who was once sick and asthmatic but trained hard to overcome that and became a peak conditioned marine. He left the military and became rich as a consultant.
It was his money that financed the Minutemen.
The comics showed Captain Metropolis at his worst, as he kicked a member named Ursula Zandt out of the group when her lesbianism became public knowledge, despite his own hidden homosexuality.
Unlike the Zack Snyder movie, it was also Captain Metropolis who tried to form the Crimebusters — the team from that film and the Watchmen comics present-day story.
In the comics, Captain Metropolis died in 1974, although there was some thought that he faked his own death to live in peace.
Jake McDorman (What We Do In The Shadows, Limitless) portrayed Captain Metropolis on Watchmen in HBO.
Watchmen on HBO airs on Sunday nights at 10/9c.