The Suicide Squad is shaking things up in the DC Universe.
The news from DC’s FanDome virtual event continues to roll in with all the chaotic energy of a real-life convention, meaning we’ve been getting things like brand-new trailers for Wonder Woman 1984, sneak-peeks at Barry Allen’s new Flash costume, and new information about the long awaited Netflix Sandman adaptation.
What’s more, we finally got a chance to hear directly from James Gunn about his Suicide Squad movie, including an official roster of just who is playing who and a behind-the-scenes sizzle reel.
While information about The Suicide Squad is still being kept closely underwraps–the movie doesn’t even have an official release date yet outside of its target 2021–we were still able to suss out some clues and hints from the panel and clips. We broke down everything we were able to learn, from the film’s strange superhero-slash-war movie genre to just who is getting a new costume along the way.
1. Who everyone is playing
One of Suicide Squad’s great mysteries has been just who, exactly, every actor in the massive cast is actually playing. We now know, thanks to a fun little animated video shown at the panel. Here’s the full list.
- Viola Davis as Amanda Waller
- Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag
- Michael Rooker as Savant
- Flula Borg as Javelin
- Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn
- David Dastmalchian as Polka Dot Man
- Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2
- Idris Elba as Bloodsport
- King Shark as King Shark (motion captured by Steve Agee)
- Mayling Ng as Mongal
- Peter Capaldi as The Thinker
- Alice Braga as SolSoria
- Pete Davidson as Blackguard
- Nathon Fillion as TDK
- Sean Gunn as Weasel
- Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang
- John Cena as Peacemaker
2. It’s a “gritty 1970s war movie”
Producer Peter Safran likened the movie’s genre to the Vietnam-era war movies of the 1970s, “combined with the genius of James Gunn’s characters and comedy.” The footage shown in brief clips certainly drives this point home–plenty of what looks like jungle warfare, beaches being blown up, armies fighting against one another, you name it.
3. Harley Quinn’s getting a new costume (or two)
We see Harley decked out in a handful of new costumes, including a black and red leather suit that looks similar to her modern comics incarnation, and a bright red dress (complete with plenty of weapons).
4. John Cena’s Peacemaker is a “douchey Captain America”
John Cena described his character, Peacemaker, the only member of this incarnation of the Squad other than Harley Quinn to ever get his own solo comic book series, as a “douchey Captain America” who “believes in peace at any cost, no matter how many people he needs to kill along the way.”
5. Idris Elba’s Bloodsport is in prison for shooting Superman
Discussed in the (completely chaotic) trivia game show portion of the panel was the reveal that Idris Elba’s character, Bloodsport, is actually in person for shooting Superman. It’s not completely clear which version of Superman we’re dealing with here, or what motivated him to make such a bold play, but in the comics Bloodsport is one of Supes’ enemies so we guess it makes sense.
6. Polka-Dot Man still fights with, well, polka dots
One of the weirder characters in the mix is David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, a vintage Batman foe who is able to turn the dots on his costume into all sorts of fun contraptions. It’s not entirely clear exactly how this version of the character will work in this new context, but during the behind the scenes video we got a brief glimpse of him hurling the dots from his tactical costume at an enemy. What happens next, though, is a mystery.
7. It’s Ratcatcher 2, not Ratcatcher
Daniela Melchior will be playing a new take on a classic DC villain named Ratcatcher, but critically, her codename is Ratcatcher 2–James Gunn was quick to remind the cast as they played their trivia game. This is probably just the set up for a gag–but, hey, maybe it’s not! Put your conspiracy theory hats on and get thinking.
8. It’s best not to get too attached
This one shouldn’t be surprising–not only is it a Suicide Squad movie, it’s one with a massive cast, meaning that it’s entirely likely a whole bunch of these characters won’t be surviving for very long. It comes with the territory.
9. It’ll be unlike every other superhero movie
James Gunn stated it pretty plainly: “It’s going to be different from any other superhero ever made.” And if you think that’s high praise, he went on to explain that making this movie has been “the greatest, most exciting journey of his life” and then credited the cast during their trivia game panel with being his favorite people to work with. Just in case you needed some reassurance about whether or not he had fun making this movie.
10. The Suicide Squad rules still apply, but we don’t know who they’re fighting
The way the Suicide Squad works is pretty simple. Amanda Waller handpicks some of the most dangerous criminals currently locked away in prison and offers them a deal–they can work for her for time shaved off their sentences (with the added security of having a bomb placed in their necks that she can detonate at any time, to keep them in line) or they can rot in their cell for the rest of their lives. We know that deal is still on the table here, and likely what will bring this version of the Squad together, but we don’t know what it is they’re fighting.
The scenes shown in the behind-the-scenes reel lead us to believe that it’s some sort of war–we can see plenty of heavily armed people in tactical gear, military equipment, and explosions–but it likely won’t be your run-of-the-mill, politics as usual conflict. The Suicide Squad is usually brought in when there are metahumans or super villains in the mix–and so far, we haven’t been given any information as to who they’ll be fighting.
11. There will be an alien in this movie
And no, we don’t mean Superman. Mayling Ng will be playing Mongal, the daughter of Mongul, a famous Superman villain and alien Warlord from a planet called Warworld. Mongal herself rules a planet named Almerac. It’s unclear just how or why she ends up on Earth, but she’s definitely not human–we can see a few brief glimpses of Ng in full costume in the behind the scenes reel and she’s certainly very, very orange.
12. Weasel is a human weasel
Sean Gunn will be playing Weasel, a d-list DC villain and enemy of the hero Firestorm who is most typically just a guy in a Scooby Doo-like weasel costume. In this movie, however, he’s the real deal, fur and all. And he looks super creepy.
13. King Shark is a shark
He’s a shark, what more do you want?
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