Lots of people die in "The Suicide Squad." DC gave writer-director James Gunn blanket permission to
kill any character he wanted, and he made good use of that freedom. Here's a list of the major
deaths in Gunn's gory romp.
Blackguard, Captain Boomerang, TDK, Javelin, Mongal, and Savant all die in the beach
assault. This is the first version of Task Force X assembled for the movie,
and they all die like jabronis in the first 15 minutes. Blackguard sells his
squadmates out to the hostiles, and his reward is getting his own face blown off.
Almost everyone else on the beach dies from some variation of being shot and/or blown up. Savant is
an exception; his cranial bomb is detonated by Amanda Waller after he tries to run away
from the mission.
During a press event Warner Bros. held for "The Suicide Squad," actor Juan Diego Botto said,
"The character that I play, General Silvio Luna, he is the new ruler of this
Corto Maltese island and he is obsessed with two things: His collection of rainbow lorikeets,
and Harley Quinn. And those two obsessions will determine his fate eventually."
He had to play it a little coy at the time with the last bit, but we have no need for coyness now:
Silvio Luna dies in "The Suicide Squad."
Silvio specifically seeks out Harley Quinn and brings her to his palatial estate,
where he says he sees her as the embodiment of American rebellion. Upon spending a single
glorious day with Harley, he proposes marriage and lays out his plans for rule.
Unfortunately for him, mentioning that those plans involve killing civilians and children is
too much of a red flag. Harley shoots Silvio, explaining that after her past relationships,
she just can't handle certain toxic elements.
DC Comics character Ratcatcher's appearance in "The Suicide Squad" is brief, and exists
entirely in memory, but it's accurate to say that his character, played by Taika Waititi,
dies in this movie. We learn his story during a flashback: Cleo, aka Ratcatcher II, and her father
grew up on the streets of Portugal, aided entirely by his father's ability to communicate with rats
through technology. The rats were able to provide them with anything they needed. Unfortunately,
he was also a drug addict and died of an overdose. This death led Chloe to take his rat wand and also
his name. She moved to America, but was sentenced to Belle Reve for armed robbery after the rats
were declared weapons. We only hear Ratcatcher I speak roughly two sentences toward the end of
the film in another flashback, but it's one of the movie's most emotional moments, leaving the
audience with the idea that if something as vile as a rat can find a place in the world,
anyone can.
No death in "The Suicide Squad" comes as a bigger shock than that
of Rick Flag. He's the only non-Amanda Waller character from the first "Suicide Squad" to
live past the opening credits. It's his nobility that does him in: when he discovers the depth of
the US government's involvement with the captivity of and research into Starro, he
decides to take a hard drive and tell the world. Waller, however, has known about this all along,
and has a backup plan: Peacemaker. She gives Peacemaker specific instructions to make sure
the information didn't leave the facility. Flag and Peacemaker fight, and are for the most part
evenly matched -- at least until Peacemaker manages to fatally stab Flag in the heart. The
only unambiguous hero in Task Force X dies, but not before alerting Peacemaker that Ratcatcher II
saw the whole thing.
One of James Gunn's most significant achievements in "The Suicide Squad"
is making a tragic and sympathetic figure out of Polka-Dot Man … and making the character's
equally stupid death devastating. Abner Krill's backstory is that his polka dot powers are the
result of an inter-dimensional infection, one set up by his scientist mother. He resents his mother
so much that he sees every possible enemy — that is to say, everyone — as her. He's
self-conscious about his infection and his powers, and just about begs for death.
"We're all gonna die." “I hope so."
During the final battle with Starro, Bloodsport has pointed instructions for Polka-Dot Man:
pretend the giant starfish terrorizing the city is his mother. Krill manages to inflict
massive damage with his polka-dots. "He does throw polka-dots at people."
But just when he's finally feeling confident about his powers, his abilities, and his place in the
world, he gets crushed — literally.
The Thinker is the foremost expert on Starro, having conducted research on the giant alien
mind-controlling starfish for years. He makes an uneasy alliance with the new regime on Corto
Maltese after the coup. Both of these things lead to this death, one inevitable as it is brutal.
Task Force X captures the Thinker and escorts him to Jotunheim. While there, Task Force X
sees Starro for the first time -- and, just as damningly, all the people Starro controls.
The Thinker reveals Starro's origins, the research he's spent decades conducting, and the fact that
the U.S. was in on it all along. After Jotunheim explodes, Starro is freed -- and his first order
of business is dealing with his captor. The Thinker begs for his life, but it's no use
as Starro rips the scientist limb from limb.
Poor, poor Milton. He isn't a hero, he isn't a villain, he isn't even an antihero. He's ... just
some dude. He gets swept up with Task Force X and drives them from Point A to Point B, albeit with
more than a few unplanned stops between A and B. He even helps with several of their schemes,
up to and including planting bombs at Jotunheim. During a firefight on the upper floors of
Jotunheim, Milton gets killed in the crossfire. To add to the indignity of his death, some of
the team doesn't even know he's with them — they assume he's back at the van. Harley, meanwhile,
can't remember Milton's name — at least until she sees the body. The perils of being just a normal
guy in a world of metahumans.
General Mateo Suarez isn't just the right hand man for Silvio Luna, he's the muscle.
A respected and feared military leader, he also has his own leadership aspirations and
functionally takes control of the government after Luna's death. He's shown to be
far more brutal than Silvio, but he gets karmic payback and a half for everything he's done.
When word reaches him that Task Force X is at Jotunheim, he personally leads the army assaulting
the tower. He and his men survive the explosion, but they don't survive Starro. Finally free,
Starro kills or mind controls almost the entire Corto Maltese military — including Suarez,
who learns the hard way not to mess with intergalactic starfish. He dies like the
rest of his men — confused and despondent as the secret his government hid stops being a secret
in the least subtle way possible.
Starro: an intergalactic starfish, and also perhaps the most dangerous evil force in the DCEU.
Captured by astronauts who only found out about his mind control ability after he spit some
offspring at them, Starro was brought to Earth for research. Understandably,
being kept in captivity for decades leaves him with something of a grudge against humanity -- on
top of his already existing conquering urges. Long kept a secret by both the U.S. and Corto
Maltese governments, Starro makes himself known to the world in a big way after finally escaping from
Jotunheim. After a thrilling battle, during which Bloodsport finally shows his mettle as a leader,
Starro is defeated. His eye is pierced by Harley as rats jump in and tear his innards
to shreds. Task Force X become heroes, and end up in the rarest of all situations:
having leverage over Amanda Waller. Check out one of our newest videos
right here! Plus, even more Looper videos about The Suicide Squad are coming soon.
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