The city-sized monster that surprised audiences in the DCEU's The Suicide Squad got an upgrade that made him even more dangerous thanks to the Green Lantern's worst rivals. The giant reservoir of anger within Starro the Conqueror made him a stellar candidate for the rage-fueled Red Lantern Corps in the pages of Injustice 2.
James Gunn gave DC fans a treat when he included the menace known as Starro the Conquerer as the third act villain in 2021's The Suicide Squad. Comic readers may be familiar with the giant starfish-shaped being as one of the first villains encountered by the Justice League. But Starro's inclusion in the DCEU certainly raised the alien's profile considerably. Using miniature versions of himself, Starro can seize control over anyone his spores attach to, adding them to his sinister hivemind. With an epic size and mind control abilities, Starro has been shown to be quite the powerful threat.
But as powerful as Starro was in The Suicide Squad, an alternate universe helped him realize his terrifying potential. Injustice 2 #59 by Tom Taylor and Xermanico introduced a version of the alien who joined forces with the most horrific Corps in the Emotional Spectrum. The Red Lanterns operate very much like their Green counterparts, only powered by rage instead of willpower. The Corps' leader Atrocitus has brought the Conqueror into his ranks and plans to use Starro to launch an attack on the Green Lantern Corps' home base of Oa. Hal Jordan, temporarily under the influence of a Red Lantern ring, regains control of himself and attempts to warn the Guardians of the Universe. Unfortunately, he's too late as the Red Lantern Starro attacks the Green Lanterns with his rage-infected spores.
On his own, Starro is already an impressively terrifying being. With his endless production of mini Starros, he has enslaved entire races and a number of the DC Universe's most powerful heroes. Speaking of scary, the Red Lantern Corps are probably more frightening than the fear-based Sinestro Corps, considering the mindless monsters its members become once bathed in the Red Light of Rage. Combining the two otherworldly forces takes the worst aspects of both threats and creates something that could actually decimate the DCU.
Starro operates off of a collective consciousness. When his spores attach to others, they become a part of him and share everything he thinks and feels. While that's intimidating on its own, it becomes even worse when the Red Lanterns are brought in. Red Lantern rings latch onto its users' hatred and make it the dominant feeling until they lose themselves to rage. A Red Lantern Starro could effortlessly spread his anger with his clones, causing those unfortunate enough to encounter one to harm themselves or others in a furious state of madness. Starro may be plenty dangerous in the DCEU, but Green Lantern showed he could be much, much worse.