While James Gunn has retained a number of Task Force X members from David Ayer’s Suicide Squad (see Harley Quinn, Rick Flag, Captain Boomerang), The Suicide Squad will see the introduction of a host of new villains into the DC Extended Universe.
The new team includes some obscure and often wacky names, with the likes of Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Ratcatcher II, The Thinker, Weasel and King Shark all making the cut. However, Gunn – who’s said he was given pretty much free reign by Warner Bros. and DC Films – has now revealed some of the Rogues he considered for the movie, but didn’t quite make the cut.
Posting on Twitter, Gunn shared comic book artwork for what he describes as “just a few (of many)”, including Livewire, Man-Bat, Chemo, KG Beast, Knockout, Gunhawk, Mr Freeze, Killer Frost, Black Spider, Solomon Grundy, Rainbow Creature, Punch and Jewelee and Deathstroke (it seems we add The Suicide Squad to the ever-growing list of near-miss movies for Joe Manganiello’s Slade Wilson).
When I first considered taking the job of writing #TheSuicideSquad I kept a file folder of characters I was considering. Here are just a few (of many) that didn't make the cut (for now!) https://t.co/xvOoEzJwMI pic.twitter.com/hwVFB9wi6W
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 3, 2021
I am of course open to using them in the future. And there are many more wonderful @DCComics characters where these came from. See #TheSuicideSquad in theaters next month! pic.twitter.com/gRExWsy1yG
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 3, 2021
One rather obscure bad guy who did make it through Gunn’s selection process was that of Polka-Dot Man, played by Ant-Man actor David Dastmalchian, and speaking to Total Film, the director explained how the Batman villain came to be part of the movie:
“I went and looked online, ‘Who’s the dumbest DC character of all time?’ and it was Polka-Dot Man,” said Gunn. “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.”
SEE ALSO: James Gunn explains why Harley Quinn’s ‘rotten’ tattoo is absent in The Suicide Squad
Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.
The Suicide Squad sees James Gunn directing a cast that includes Suicide Squad returnees Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag) and Viola Davis (Amanda Waller) as well as new DCEU additions Idris Elba, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Nathan Fillion, Taika Waititi, Jennifer Holland, David Dastmalchian, Joaquín Cosío, Mayling Ng, Flula Borg, Juan Diego Botto, Storm Reid, John Cena, Pete Davidson, Tinashe Kajese, Daniela Melchior, Julio Ruiz, Steve Agee, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, and Sylvester Stallone.
