As with every James Gunn movie, observant fans will notice plenty of extra goodies and Easter
eggs hiding in plain sight, and his latest superhero adventure is no exception. Here
are several of the more subtle references and Easter eggs that you missed in The Suicide Squad.
Moments before the battle on Jotunheim, Task Force X briefs the Thinker on the myriad ways he needs
to behave himself, lest they dispatch him with extreme prejudice. During this rooftop scene,
Harley Quinn repeatedly interjects with jokey cautions about things like covering
his mouth whenever he coughs. The Easter egg, however, is buried in one of these lines:
"If we find out you have personalized license plates, you die."
Vanity plates can often be annoying, so the line gets a laugh whether you read
something deeper into it or not. But Harley's hatred of vehicle signage is
actually a reference to her ex-boyfriend, none other than the Joker. It's also one of
the only times in The Suicide Squad where they acknowledge the existence of the earlier film.
In the previous outing for the titular team,
the Joker was infamously played by Jared Leto. Much like everything else with the first movie,
the initial response to his look was massive, promising internet buzz,
but the final product has subsequently been deemed a disappointment.
Symbolic of the Leto Joker's on-the-nose tendencies that made him hard to swallow was his vehicle,
an adapted Infiniti G35 dubbed "The Vaydor." That vehicle also featured vanity plates that
read "HAHAHA." Harley has since moved on in the relationship department, but clearly,
she still has some things that annoy her when it comes to her ex-puddin'.
When the team assembles in a charming local Corto Maltese watering hole for a few drinks,
the club contains several notable faces. One of the dancers is none other than Pom Klementieff,
the distinctive-looking Canadian-born French actor and model who played Mantis in 2017's Guardians of
the Galaxy Vol. 2 as well as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. She doesn't have any
lines this time around, but sharp-eyed James Gunn fans know that he has a tight, fun-loving
group of friends and collaborators. It's fun to see her offering support for the filmmaker.
You can also spot the legendary Lloyd Kaufman. He’s the mastermind behind the Troma Entertainment
indie film factory. And he has given rise to multiple film talents including Gunn,
who in 1995 got his start writing Tromeo and Juliet. It was at Troma that Gunn learned how
to write and produce films, scout locations, work with actors, and make and distribute ads for the finished product.
Gunn also worked on such other Troma productions as 1999's Terror Firmer.
Kaufman can be spotted on the dance floor, clinging to a young woman while dancing alongside
Peacemaker. To be a fly on the wall for whatever conversation took place between those two!
Gunn also pays tribute to his former mentor Kaufman with a
blink-and-you'll-miss-it clip from Troma's most famous film, the 1984 cult classic The
Toxic Avenger. Next time you watch The Suicide Squad, see if you can spot it.
A pair of end credits scenes bring back two members of the Suicide Squad.
These two characters could not be any more different, never met in the film,
and would seem to have very different futures in the DC Extended Universe.
First, we see the bizarre, bug-eyed Weasel resurrected. Played on set by James' brother
Sean Gunn, who also provided reference points for Rocket Raccoon in the Guardians of the Galaxy
films, the character first appeared in the pages of DC Comics via 1985's The Fury of Firestorm #36.
Believe it or not, the John Monroe version of Weasel was a Stanford University student,
and then a teacher at Vandemeer University. Much like Polka-Dot Man, his presence in comics over
the years has generally been as a punchline, both on the page, and for fans in real life.
In those early comics, he was a serial killer whose appearance came from a sharp-clawed costume.
In the comics, he slashed the throat of the Thinker, causing Rick Flag to kill him.
As far as the movie is concerned, Weasel is seen coughing up water and surviving the carnage on the beach.
He scampers away, perhaps headed into town to grab a drink with Lloyd Kaufman and Pom Klementieff.
In the second end credits scene, we see a pair of Waller's newly emboldened minions rushing to
the hospital, shocked that someone survived the battle of Jotunheim. You can be forgiven if you
have your fingers crossed for Polka-Dot Man, but alas, lying in that hospital bed is Peacemaker.
This revelation almost certainly foreshadows the character's resurrection in a Gunn-engineered HBO
Max Peacemaker series, one the filmmaker recently announced he had completed 8 episodes of filming
alongside Cena. Peacemaker is currently slated to debut on the streaming service in January 2022.
Talk about a line that gets maximum impact with minimum dialogue.
When Amanda Waller introduces Robert DuBois by saying:
"He's in prison for putting Superman in the UCU with a kryptonite bullet."
You immediately know he is not a man to be trifled with. Alas, there is no Superman
cameo in The Suicide Squad, but there is a precedent to the whole kryptonite bullet idea.
Ask anyone who knows anything about the man from Krypton, and they can tell you the one way to
kill Superman: Kryptonite. The fictional material first appeared in the radio serial The Adventures
of Superman in June of 1943, followed by its first comic book appearance in November 1949's Superman #61.
The material originates from the hero's home planet, is generally harmless to humans,
but could potentially prove lethal for the Man of Steel. Both Batman and Lex Luthor are generally
known to keep some close, just in case. The character of Bloodsport dates back
to 1987's Superman vol. 2 #4 and has since become a longtime adversary of Superman.
Initially depicted in that post-Rambo time period as a Vietnam veteran, he was brought into the
fold by Luthor, who recruited him to assassinate Superman after equipping him with a Punisher-like
stash of weapons that included a gun that fired needles filled with kryptonite. This Bloodsport
was angry at the citizens of Metropolis, saying they took for granted the freedoms
he and his brother had fought hard to preserve. After Bloodsport slaughtered dozens of people,
Superman intervened, taking a Kryptonite bullet in the process, and requiring medical attention.
Take a close look at the poster for The Suicide Squad, and you'll notice several Easter eggs.
One is the raining starfish, an obvious reference to Starro.
It's the big bad, mind-controlling monster Task Force X battles at the end of the film.
Another seems to be referring to the beloved DC Comics miniseries that introduced the
modern Suicide Squad and contained some of their earliest misadventures.
First spotted by the site Comics Beat, the reference can be found masquerading
as a palm tree frond just under the word "The" in the poster tagline:
"They're dying to save the world." Look super close, and you'll see it: The word "Legends."
Most likely, this Easter egg refers to the warmly remembered, six-issue Legends comic
series DC released in 1986 and 1987. The comics featured new takes on the Flash, Justice League,
and Captain Marvel, but perhaps most significantly introduced the modern
incarnation of the Suicide Squad in issue #3. The series had DC heroes battling Darkseid,
and the third issue had Amanda Waller organizing a Black Ops team to take on Glorious Godfrey,
one of Darkseid's elite and a New God of Apokolips. She selected Rick Flag,
Bronze Tiger, Deadshot, Enchantress, and Captain Boomerang for the mission. Many of whom are also
featured in Gunn and David Ayer’s films. Comics fans love to see a tip of the cap
to those who came before, and this minor acknowledgment of John Ostrander, Len Wein,
John Byrne, Karl Kesel, and others who helped build the modern Suicide Squad is a nice touch.
Gunn is undoubtedly one of the most comic book-savvy super fans working
in Hollywood today, and this seems to be an acknowledgment that the publishing of Legends,
which would have come out when he was 20 years old, was a formative experience.
His demise might just get the biggest laugh in The Suicide Squad,
an impressive feat in a movie filled with punchlines as potent as Bloodsport's weaponry.
Emerging quietly in the background of the story, a seemingly insignificant
van-driving character goes from chauffeur to tag-along to full-fledged martyr,
inspiring the Squad to take down Jotunheim and ultimately rebel against Waller and her program.
His name is Milton, and he first gained the attention of many sharp-eyed moviegoers when
he could be glimpsed in the background of the rooftop scene, strutting around like he was
another super-powered member of the Suicide Squad. When a fan posted a screengrab and asked "Who is this dude?????"
the Twitter-savvy filmmaker simply replied: "Oh, that? That's Milton."
Comic fans immediately leapt into action, speculating that he could be the sideshow
character Milton Fine, also known as the Amazing Brainiac. Or perhaps he’s a gender-swapped version
of the female Amazon warrior Hippolyta Milton. If true, that could lead to a
connection with Wonder Woman, which could mean a Justice League and Suicide Squad crossover!
Nope, it’s just Milton. The stone-faced, ill-fated driver is played by Julio Ruiz, an actor who
has appeared on Vice Principals, Preacher, and S.W.A.T. If you want to see something adorable,
track down a March 2021 article from Ruiz's hometown newspaper, the Laredo Morning Times.
It proudly hypes up the fact that he's appearing alongside Margot Robbie, Idris Elba,
and other Hollywood stars in a summer tentpole superhero film, but clearly has no idea why.
Milton's barely acknowledged death triggers Harley Quinn, as does the acknowledgment from
the others that they hardly realized he wasn't waiting in the van. Like the death of Javelin,
it emboldens her to turn tragedy into triumph and avenge her fallen comrades.
Are there any grander implications to this storyline in the DCEU?
Can we look forward to a Batman/Milton team-up movie in the near future? Probably not,
but you can follow Julio Ruiz on social media for more information on the mysterious Milton,
and where his story goes from here.
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