The Suicide Squad will feature a slew of new-to-the-silver-screen faces and we've got the scoop on who they
are and what they do. Here's a breakdown of every new character in The Suicide Squad roll
call.
When Idris Elba's name first cropped up in connection with The Suicide Squad, it was
as a reported replacement for Will Smith's Deadshot. Smith, who appeared as the smart-mouthed
assassin in David Ayer's Suicide Squad, had to drop out of Gunn's project due to scheduling
conflicts. Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment executives may have initially wanted to have
Deadshot in the follow-up no matter what, but soon, it was confirmed that Elba wasn't
going to take Smith's spot after all. Instead, he'd be playing an entirely different character
not yet seen on the silver screen.
DC FanDome confirms that Elba is playing Bloodsport in The Suicide Squad. Three different people
have taken on the Bloodsport moniker in the DC comics, but Elba is playing the original:
Robert DuBois, who first appeared in print in Superman Vol. 2 #4. DuBois suffers a mental
breakdown when he learns that, because he was too scared to fight himself, his brother
took his place in the Vietnam War and ended up permanently injured. After one of Lex Luthor's
lackeys convinces DuBois that Superman is the person he needs to exact revenge upon,
DuBois takes on the name Bloodsport and starts murdering his way through Metropolis with
kryptonite bullets, before he's ultimately defeated by Superman.
It's probably unlikely that Elba's Bloodsport will experience this exact arc in The Suicide
Squad, but there's a chance that certain elements of it will make their way into the characterization.
Michael Rooker, who played Yondu in the first two films in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise,
has a plum role in The Suicide Squad as Brian Durlin, a spoiled millionaire who moves to
Gotham City in hopes of becoming a vigilante much like Batman. Working under the name Savant,
Durlin is turned away from vigilantism by Batman himself. This motivates Savant to become
a professional blackmailer going on to do such outrageous acts as kidnapping Black Canary
and overthrowing the Gotham mafia with the help of Huntress. At one point in the comics,
Savant is even offered a place on the Birds of Prey team.
However, the New 52 comics rebooted Savant in September 2011, and the version of the
character seen in that run is almost definitely the one we're getting in The Suicide Squad.
The recent comics depict Savant as an extremely amoral, and lethally effective, member of
the Suicide Squad.
Polka-Dot Man is a silly-looking villain who's originally an enemy of Batman. Born Abner
Krill and originally known as Mr. Polka-Dot, Polka-Dot Man made his print debut in Detective
Comics #300. Polka-Dot Man centers his entire modus operandi around spots and dots and acts
mostly as a low-level rogue who does all he can to capture Batman's attention and prove
he's just as clever and capable as the beloved superhero.
Though his presence isn't as prominous as, say, the Joker, Polka-Dot Man still packs
a punch thanks to the powers his removable suit dots give him, such as dots that transform
into flying saucers, chainsaws, and floating fists. The Suicide Squad's Polka-Dot Man will
likely have a fresh story, one focused more on his connections to the titular crew.
For the role of Polka-Dot Man, The Suicide Squad snagged actor David Dastmalchian who
appeared in The Dark Knight as a former Arkham patient named Thomas Schiff, one of Joker's
goons who attempted to murder the Mayor. It'll be interesting to see what Dastmalchian brings
to the table in this new role.
Pitch Perfect franchise breakout and German DJ Flula Borg will portray Javelin, a German
athlete who became a criminal after leaving his sports career behind. Javelin originally
joins the Suicide Squad after losing a fight against the Green Lantern, and asks that all
traces of his criminal past be expunged upon him becoming a member of the team. He's a
solid addition to the Suicide Squad, using javelin-like weapons in combat, and he even
participates in the War of the Gods DC Comics crossover. Unfortunately, that participation
leads to his death via his own javelin.
"What a fitting end to your life's pursuits."
Fans have known for a while that Portuguese actress Daniela Melchior will portray Ratcatcher
in The Suicide Squad. Now, we know that Melchior's character is officially known as "Ratcatcher
2" in The Suicide Squad an interesting moniker that suggests this Ratcatcher could be a second
iteration of the exterminator-turned-villain.
Born Otis Flannegan, Ratcatcher used to spend his time scurrying across Gotham City catching
rats. However, his job as a Gotham City Sanitation Department rat-catcher ends when he stabs
a man to death and is locked up for ten years in the Gotham State Penitentiary. He then
develops the villainous alter-ego Ratcatcher, holds people prisoner in sewers, trains an
army of rats to attack and kill his enemies on command, and generally terrorizes Gotham
to hell and back.
It doesn't seem like Melchior will be playing the Otis Flannegan iteration of Ratcatcher
exactly, but we can guess that she's likely playing another person who has taken on the
Ratcatcher name in Otis' place. Perhaps his daughter, but, much like the definition of
a rat, it's unclear.
"Rats are outside, mice are inside."
"Yo, but what if a mouse goes outside, does it become a rat? And if a rat is in the house,
is it a mouse?"
"I ain't never seen no mouse outside."
"That's because it's a rat, fool!"
Where Suicide Squad had Killer Croc, The Suicide Squad will have King Shark. King Shark is
the son of the Shark God and possesses superhuman durability, strength, speed, and stamina,
as well as sonar capabilities, the ability to regenerate damaged body tissue, and super-sharp
shark teeth.
Comedian Steve Agee will voice King Shark, who originally joins the Suicide Squad in
the comics when Superboy teams up with the crew to take down the Silicon Dragons, a criminal
syndicate that was wrecking havoc on the Hawaiian Islands. In the New 52 reboot of DC Comics'
continuity, King Shark is one of the main members of the Suicide Squad, and he's been
a familiar presence on the team ever since.
Suicide Squad director David Ayer revealed in July 2016 that he wanted to have King Shark
be on the team's line-up. However, the CGI that would have been required to bring King
Shark to life was too much of an undertaking, and so the film's creative team went with
Killer Croc instead.
Peacemaker first appeared as Christopher Smith in Fightin' 5 #40, and was a Charlton Comics
character prior to DC Comics' acquisition of the company. As the "Peacemaker" name suggests,
Smith is a diplomat so deeply committed to peace-keeping and the pacifist cause that
he's willing to go so far as kill those who reject law and order. In the comics, Peacemaker
has a life-altering revelation about why he's so opposed to war, and begins to believe that
the spirits of people he has murdered are living inside his helmet.
Another character called Mitchell Black took on the Peacemaker mantle in the 1999 six-issue
comic series The L.A.W., but fans will likely see the Christopher Smith iteration on screen
in The Suicide Squad. Former WWE superstar John Cena, who is continuing to prove his
acting prowess, will play Peacemaker, and he's got a pithy one-sentence summation for
those unfamiliar with the character.
"He's like a douchey Captain America."
"Language!"
TDK seems to be a new name for an old character: Floyd Belkin, also known by the hilarious
moniker Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, and even Splitter from time to time. Debuting in December 1989's
Secret Origins Vol. 2 #46, Arm-Fall-Off Boy is based on a fan-created parody character
that artist Curt Swan and writer Gerard Jones saw and totally dug.
Arm-Fall-Off Boy possesses the giggle-inducing ability to tear off his own limbs and use
them as blunt-force weapons. Basically, he embodies the threat, "I'll rip your arms off
and beat you to death with them," except he's using his own arms to do the maiming and murdering.
In the comics, he's mostly been associated with the Legion of Super-Heroes, which didn't
exactly welcome him with open… arm.
Nathan Fillion will play TDK in The Suicide Squad, and with his background in comedy particularly
his role as Captain Hammer in Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog we can't think of a better
person for the part.
Four different people have utilized the name "Thinker" to carry out their supervillain
tasks within the pages of DC comics. The Suicide Squad will most likely feature the original
Thinker, Clifford DeVoe, a failed lawyer who used technologically powered telekenesis and
a device called the "Thinking Cap" to become a master criminal. Over the years, he's bounced
around the DC Universe, although he's primarily been a Flash villain.
While on a mission with the Suicide Squad in Doom Patrol and the Suicide Squad Special,
The Thinker was killed by Weasel, another character appearing in The Suicide Squad,
so we wouldn't hedge our bets on the two getting along in the film. The New 52 storyline "Forever
Evil" saw the Thinker sent to Belle Reve Penitentiary, where the Suicide Squad is based, and align
himself with the Crime Syndicate of America.
Former Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi will play the Thinker in the upcoming movie.
Best known for his work on Saturday Night Live, Pete Davidson is taking on a killer
new role in The Suicide Squad: Blackguard. An enforcer for a crime syndicate known as
the 1,000, Blackguard was once an everyday criminal named Richard Hertz before he joined
the organization. Yes, that's really his name.
After escaping death at the hands of his fellow 1,000 members, Blackguard teams with the Suicide
Squad on a mission to kill high-ranking members of a corporation. Unfortunately for Blackguard,
things don't end well: Wade Eiling, a general and Suicide Squad member with superhuman abilities
and regenerative powers, kills Blackguard by squeezing his head off.
"It's a shame he wasn't more headstrong. He'll never be the head of a major corporation."
"Okay, that'll do."
"Okay."
The New Mutants and Predators actress Alice Braga will portray a character by the name
of Solsoria in The Suicide Squad. Not much concrete information is known about Solsoria,
though the popular theory is that her name is actually Sol Soria a legitimate first and
last name rather than a super-villain moniker. But regardless of name-formatting technicalities,
we're guessing that Braga's character could be a gender-bent version of Juan Soria, as
no such character named Sol Soria or Solsoria exists in the DC comics canon.
As with many other recruits, Juan Soria was a common criminal before joining the Suicide
Squad. In the comics, he starts out wanting to become a superhero, injecting himself with
nanites to get superpowers, but things don't go as planned. Soria auditions for the Justice
League, gets denied, robs a bank, gets sent to Belle Reve Penitentiary, and is drafted
into the Suicide Squad. He's treated pretty poorly, but it's all for a purpose: an alien
the Squad must defeat thrives on positivity, and Soria's negativity is what weakens it.
Keeping up with tradition, James Gunn cast his brother in The Suicide Squad. Sean Gunn
previously played Kraglin in Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.
2, as well as provided the motion capture for Rocket, and he''ll portray Weasel in Gunn's
newest comic book movie.
Weasel begins his story on the pages of 1985's The Fury of Firestorm #35. In the 1960s, a
law student named John Monroe was generally having a terrible time despite being intelligent
enough to get into Stanford University. His peers' incessant taunting ultimately pushes
Monroe to commit murder decades later, adopting the name they called him, "Weasel," as his
alter-ego moniker.
While on a mission with the Suicide Squad, Weasel kills the Thinker, but the Thinker's
mind-enhancing cap retains enough of its former owner's mind to then force Rick Flag into
killing Weasel. Like we said earlier, it doesn't seem likely that the Thinker and Weasel will
be life-long friends in the film.
Possessing the powers of super-strength and stamina, Mongal is an extraterrestrial warlord
whose father, Mongul the Elder, is the ruler of the galaxy-traversing, slave-holding satellite
Warworld. In one noteworthy appearance, Mongal meets Superman and brings him onto the Warworld
ship, fighting against him alongside her twin brother, Mongul the Younger. Of course, no
sibling dynamic is perfect, and she eventually gets decapitated by her brother during a fight
in Green Lantern Vol. 4 #8.
In The Suicide Squad, expert martial artist Mayling Ng, who performed stunts in 2017's
Wonder Woman, will bring Mongal to life.
The Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 6, 2021.
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