Belle Reve has been a notorious prison in the DC universe, home to a plethora of super criminals. Most importantly, it’s been the home base of Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad. Only Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Prison can rival it as a home for some of DC’s most notorious super villains. Soon, it’ll appear in the first official entry in James Gunn’s DCU, the animated Creature Commandos series. Here’s the history of this infamous DC locale, located deep in the American South.
Belle Reve First Appeared in DC’s Suicide Squad Series
Belle Reve was first introduced into the DC Universe in 1987’s Suicide Squad #1 by John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell. They portrayed the maximum security prison under the control of its warden, Amanda Waller. The no-nonsense Waller ruled the facility with an iron fist, making sure its villainous (and powerful) inmates stayed in line. Since they housed most of the metahuman and super criminals there, it became the home base of Task Force X. The Task Force was a rotating series of criminals who did special missions for the U.S. government, under the promise of shorter sentences if the missions proved successful.
Belle Reve is located in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana near Hawkman’s home city of St. Roch. They built it on the site of the former DuBois plantation, which was eventually sold to the federal government after the DuBois family lost all their money after the American Civil War. The name Belle Reve is actually an homage to the film A Streetcar Named Desire. Belle Reve is name-dropped in the iconic film as the former plantation home of the DuBois sisters. With the rise of super-powered criminals, the government turned the prison into a prototype designed solely for the purpose of housing these individuals.
Many of DC’s Most Notorious Villains Are Imprisoned
The list of names of the super criminals locked away in Belle Reve is quite a lengthy one. Among the more notable inmates are Captain Boomerang, Bronze Tiger, and Doctor Light. Also locked up there is the Clock King, Rag Doll, Killer Frost, and King Shark. And that’s just the more famous names serving time there. Some rather notable Batman villains, when not placed in Arkham Asylum, have done time at Belle Reve as well. These include Mr. Freeze, the Penguin, Harley Quinn, and the Joker himself. Even Lex Luthor himself famously did some time in Belle Reve.
Belle Reve in Non-Comics Media
Belle Reve has appeared in several non-comics media over the years, usually in projects associated with the Suicide Squad. They first appeared in the animated Justice League Unlimited episode “Task Force X.” Then later, it appeared in the animated series Young Justice. In the universe of Smallville, it’s a state mental hospital, versus being a straight-up prison. It featured prominently in the 2016 Suicide Squad film. In the DCEU, “the Belle Reve Correctional Center” was its official name, home of the A.R.G.U.S. black ops operation. They even name-dropped it in the Arrowverse. Now, it looks to play a significant part in the upcoming Creature Commandos series coming to Max, the first official DCU show. It seems that in this series, Belle Reve is home to not just metahumans, but also supernatural felons as well. We’ll find out when Creature Commandos drops on December 5 on Max.
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