Nelson Gardner
From Watchmen Wiki
| Nelson Gardner | |
 | |
| Alias | Captain Metropolis |
| Died | 1974 |
| Actor | Darryl Scheelar |
Nelson Gardner (? - 1974), aka Captain Metropolis, is a masked adventurer appearing in the Watchmen comic book limited series published by DC Comics in 1986. He is based on Charlton Comics character, Judomaster.
Fictional character history
As a child, Nelson Gardner (named for E. Nelson Bridwell and Gardner Fox) was sickly and asthmatic, but years of training allowed him to get past his condition and eventually played football in college before joining the U.S. Marines as "Marine Lieutenant USMC Nelson Gardner: Free-Lance Consultant".
He later adopted the Captain Metropolis persona, and, using the skills he acquired in the military, attempted to eradicate organized crime in urban areas. In the Fall of 1940, he founded a superhero team called the Minutemen which was composed of Silk Spectre, Hooded Justice, Silhouette, Nite Owl, The Comedian, Mothman and Dollar Bill.
In Watchmen #9, it is implied that he had a relationship with fellow gay teammate Hooded Justice, yet this information was unknown to the public. Though a soldier and the de facto leader of the Minutemen, Metropolis often appeared timid, weak willed and easily flustered.
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Unhappy with the way the team was more concerned about social appearances than actual crime fighting, the Minutemen were eventually disbanded by Captain Metropolis himself in 1949. Later he attempted to form another team, the Crimebusters, to which he invited Rorschach, the second Nite Owl, the second Silk Spectre, Dr. Manhattan, Ozymandias and the Comedian, but his plans never fully came to fruition. When he spoke at the meeting of tackling the "social ills" of America, the Comedian mocked him for wanting to "dress up" and play "cowboys and Indians", and further accused the older hero of trying to form the Crimebusters as a means of seeking personal glory, which Metropolis insisted wasn't true; as the would-be members filed out, Metropolis begged them not to leave, telling them that someone had to "save the world." The crime display that he worked so hard on was burned and destroyed by the Comedian.
At about this time, Gardner made various racist statements about Hispanics and African Americans, which contributed to the public's growing distaste for superheroes. He was decapitated in an automobile accident in 1974.[1]
An alternative possibility, that Gardner staged his own death and survives to the story's present day of 1985, and indeed appears within the story imagery, is explored in The Fate of Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis.
Film
Metropolis only appears in flashbacks in the Zack Snyder 2009 Watchmen adaptation. He has only one line in the film, and is not present in the 1966 meeting. Ozymandias attempts to lead the 1966 meeting, calling the proposed team the Watchmen. The David Hayter draft eliminated him entirely from the plot, and Dan Dreiberg was used as a replacement for the Crimebusters meeting scene, so as to make him more of a leader.
References
| Watchmen Heroes | |
| Minutemen | |
|---|---|
| Captain Metropolis • Hooded Justice • Nite Owl I • The Comedian • Silk Spectre I • Dollar Bill • Mothman • Silhouette | |
| Crimebusters | |
| Captain Metropolis • Doctor Manhattan • Rorschach • The Comedian • Ozymandias • Nite Owl II • Silk Spectre II |
