The Suicide Squad brings back Task Force X, a motley crew of incarcerated supervillains hired to stop a major threat to the world. Five years after the release of the first Suicide Squad film, this time, the DCEU film is under the creative mind of James Gunn. The Guardians of the Galaxy director brings in a new and improved squad with the cast almost entirely replaced except for Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, and Jai Courtney. The three are reprising their roles from the 2018 film.
Gunn calls The Suicide Squad a sequel/soft reboot to David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. The R-rated film debuts this weekend in domestic theaters and on HBO Max. Based on early reviews — it’s bigger, better, and a lot more weird with its bizarre characters.
The Suicide Squad Adds New Members
James Gunn’s Suicide Squad brings back Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), the commanding architect of Task Force X; Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), the U.S. special ops specialist and Suicide Squad member; Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), the Australian thief; and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) coming back to play the fan-favorite character for the third time.
More big names join James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad like Idris Elba, Pete Davidson, and John Cena. Let’s take a quick look at each of the new members of the Suicide Squad, which many may not make it to the end of the movie.
Savant
Michael Rooker, who played Yondu from Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies, plays Savant. He is the heir to a vast fortune and decided to move to Gotham City to become a vigilante until Batman told him he wasn’t fit for the job. Savant decided to start a blackmailing business instead. We’ll see how he fits in the Suicide Squad.
Javelin
An ex-olympian turned villain using his javelin-throwing skills for his career in crime. German comedian and actor Flula Borg describes his character: “If you imagined the most sexy man, or woman, or animal—a goose—and then give this person or animal long hair and a very large toothpick, you would have Javelin.”
Polka-Dot Man
The infamous Polka-Dot Man who launches colorful polka dots at his enemies. Played by David Dastmalchian (Ant-Man) wears a suit, covered in polka dots, which miraculously transform into weapons. “Polka-Dot Man is great, but I did think I needed a character who’s thought of as one of the dumbest ever,” Gunn recently told Gamesradar. “So I went and looked online, ‘Who’s the dumbest DC character of all time?’ and it was Polka-Dot Man. We’ve turned that character who’s a sad, pathetic character into a character who’s depressed because people think he’s stupid. He has a very tragic story that you learn about throughout the film—to be able to add depth to characters who are thought of as the silliest is a fun thing for me to do.”
Ratcatcher 2
Portugese actress Daniela Melchior plays Ratcatcher 2, a character created for the film. The original Ratcatcher was another bizarre Batman villain who trained rats to carry out his bidding from the sewers of Gotham City. Ratcatcher 2 will lead an army of rats in The Suicide Squad against the massive starfish villain.
King Shark
Voiced by Sylvestor Stallone, the humanoid shark who is already and established supervillain in the DC Universe. King Shark will eat any human in sight. He may have the sharpest teeth in the Suicide Squad, but may not be the sharpest team member. In the DC comics, he is a tech-savvy pacifist — until he smells human blood.
Bloodsport
Robert DuBois, played by Thor’s Idris Elba, is in prison for “putting Superman in the ICU with a Kryptonite bullet.” Elba’s Bloodsport seems to be positioned to be on the main characters in The Suicide Squad. Waller uses his daughter’s freedom as leverage forcing DuBois to join the dangerous mission.
Mongal
Mongal is the daughter of the classic Superman and Justice League villain Mongul — a rare being capable of challenging even the Man of Steel. Mongal is played by Mayling Ng, who made her appearance as an Amazonian in Wonder Woman. “Mongal has super strength, super speed,” Ng explains in a teaser. “She’s just, like, a super bitch.”
Weasel
Not much to say about this creepy looking creature. James Gunn’s brother, Sean Gunn, stands in as the haunting beast. Sean Gunn frequently works with his brother. He also stands in for Rocket Raccoon in the MCU films. In the DC comics, Weasel was a fully-formed human named John Monroe who committed murders while wearing a weasel costume. No details yet on how he became a humanoid animal in The Suicide Squad.
Blackguard
The SNL star Pete Davidson finds himself in a superhero movie in the role of Blackguard. Blackguard’s real name is Richard “Dick” Hertz. It’s unknown as to what Davidson’s character can actually do in the film.
Thinker
As the 12th Doctor on Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi joins the DCEU as the Thinker. All the Arrowverse fans might recognize the Thinker from the Flash series on The CW. Aside from being wicked smart, the Thinker has the tendency to betray his allies. So there’s a high chance he’ll do the same in The Suicide Squad.
T.D.K.
The second original character created for The Suicide Squad is T.D.K., or “The Detachable Kid.” Played by Gunn’s longtime friends and Slither actor, Nathan Fillion, T.D.K. has the twisted ability to detach his limbs from his boy and telepathically control them. Gunn described T.D.K. as “a guy whose arms and legs come off. That’s his only power.”
Peacemaker
Last, but not least, we have John Cena’s Peacemaker. Cena was directed by Gunn to be “like a douchey Captain America.” Peacemaker, according to Gunn, “believes in peace at any cost, no matter how many people he needs to kill along the way.” Cena has been showing up to interviews and the premiere in full costume. There will also be a Peacemaker series on HBO Max with Cena reprising his role. Gunn serves as writer for all eight episodes and director for five of them.
We’ll see how new and improved The Suicide Squad is tomorrow, August 5th, when the DC Universe film premieres in theaters and on HBO Max.
