Karl Urban Played A DC Hero In This 2019 Short Film From A Legendary Batman Creative
By Ryan ScottJuly 11, 2026 4:45 pm EST
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Karl Urban has somewhat quietly become a legend in the world of comic book adaptations. Urban has several live-action comic book roles to his name, having starred in everything from “Dredd” to “The Boys.” But the actor also quietly added a classic DC Comics hero to his resume back in 2019 in collaboration with “Batman” animation legend Bruce Timm
Timm had a lot of creative control over “Batman: The Animated Series” as one of the show’s co-creators. He also worked on “Superman: The Animated Series,” “Batman Beyond,” and quite a few DC animated movies over the years, including “Batman: Under the Red Hood” and “Justice League: Gods and Monsters,” among many others. The man’s bonafides are unimpeachable within the DC Universe
In 2019, Timm was tasked with directing an animated short as part of the “DC Showcase” series. Attached to “Batman: Hush,” which led DC’s 2019 slate of animated movies, “DC Showcase: Sgt. Rock” gave the U.S. Army hero from the pages of DC Comics the spotlight, with Urban voicing the title character in the short. The story sees a battle-hardened Sgt. Rock during World War II as he is assigned to lead a company consisting of legendary monsters into battle against a seemingly unstoppable platoon of Nazi zombies.
These legendary monsters were none other than the Creature Commandos, who would later get their own animated series on HBO Max as part of the new DC Universe. “Creature Commandos” even introduced the new Batman in the new DCU, interestingly enough. Years before James Gunn gave them an animated series, they mixed it up with Sgt. Rock in this seldom-discussed short from the mind of a DC legend
DC Showcase: Sgt. Rock was a little-seen animated DC affair
Warner Bros.
A big reason why “DC Showcase: Sgt. Rock” didn’t get more attention is because it was attached to the home video release of “Batman: Hush.” These animated DC movies are relatively popular, but the number of people who actually comb through the Blu-ray/DVD bonus features to watch a short not directly connected to the movie at hand isn’t enormous, all things considered. Had it been released as a collection that was streaming on HBO Max or somewhere else? Who knows
It’s also important to point out that Sgt. Rock, with all due respect, isn’t an A-list DC hero. All the same, Warner Bros. enlisted A-list talent for the short, led by Bruce Timm and Karl Urban. In the years since, Bruce Campbell revived “Sgt. Rock” as a horror comic for DC, and there was even a live-action movie in development at DC Studios for a short while
Unfortunately, that project fell by the wayside last year. “The Penguin” star Colin Farrell was going to star in “Sgt. Rock” for director Luca Guadagnino (“Queer”), but it ended up being shelved. That’s not to say it won’t come back to life at some point, but for now, the character is sitting on the sidelines just waiting for the chance to take the spotlight
For what it’s worth, Urban is about the right age and absolutely has the look to pull off Sergeant Franklin John Rock in live-action, should DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran wish to field new suggestions
You can grab “Batman: Hush” on Blu-ray from Amazon
