The man who brought you a talking, belligerent raccoon and a sentient tree in the Marvel universe is now bringing a humanoid shark and an inappropriate weasel-man to the screen from the pages of DC Comics.
James Gunn, director of the Guardian of the Galaxy movies, has stepped in to make the sort-of sequel The Suicide Squad (the “the” tells you this isn’t so much a follow-up as a reset of the 2016 film), and the first trailer for the Aug. 6th film seems to be designed to baffle with its candy-colored absurdity.
It’s hard to know exactly what’s happening in this story. A team has been assembled for another Dirty Dozen-style mission, from which they may not return—and that apparently involves fighting … a gigantic starfish? Rather than delving into what’s what, the best we can do right now is break down who’s who.
Some of the characters are returning, so we already know Margot Robbie‘s Harley Quinn, Joel Kinnamen‘s Col. Rick Flag, Viola Davis‘ imperious program director Amanda Waller, and Jai Courtney‘s Captain Boomerang. Let’s skip ahead to the new faces.
Weasel
Come on, have some dignity. Unfortunately, that’s not really a word in this villain’s history. This sleazy predator is performed by the director’s brother, Sean Gunn (who also acted out the part of Rocket Raccoon on set for the Guardians films, in addition to his other duties).
Weasel used to be a costumed villain, the alter-ego of John Monroe, a university professor turned serial killer, whose nickname came from the fact that his colleagues thought he was a creep even before he turned into a murderer. He was an especially unpredictable member of the Suicide Squad in the comics, whose sociopathic tendencies tended to thwart the missions more than help them.
DC later rebooted Weasel as a more werewolf-type creature. That’s how he appears to be rendered in this movie. Still sleazy, though.
The Thinker
Former Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi is playing this thoughtful fellow, actually a second version of the character known as Thinker II. His transistor-enhanced noggin makes him into a walking predictive algorithm, valuable as a teammate because he can anticipate exactly what’s going to happen from a given scenario.
One interesting twist on the character is that he is actually a young man, but the physical trauma of his brain augmentation has depleted and aged him. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
Polka-Dot Man
This Batman villain looks like his mom stitched a game of Twister into a costume. He’s a fairly minor character in DC lore, a gadget-inspired bad guy whose dots are sort of like portals that each manifest a different weapon or tool. Swiss Army Man is currently taken, so we have Polka-Dot Man instead.
As played by David Dastmalchian, who played “Joker’s Thug” in 2008’s The Dark Knight, Polka-Dot also seems to have an actual death wish, which is right in line with the downtrodden history of the character.
Savant
Michael Rooker is another frequent fixture in Gunn’s films, most famously as blue-faced, metal-mohawked Yondu in the Guardians films. Here he is playing Savant, who in the comics was the heir to a fortune of billions who envied Batman and yearned to become a vigilante just like him. Unlike Bruce Wayne, he lacks a good moral compass, but he’s a computer genius who did have a talent for identifying and profiling bad guys. He just didn’t realize he was becoming one until it was too late.
TDK
Nathan Fillion‘s Mr. Pibb-swilling character is known by his initials, which stand for The Detachable Kid. This is proof that Gunn assembled his Suicide Squad from the most ridiculous of DC’s bottom-feeding heroes and villains. The Detachable Kid is a variation on a character whose existence had to be a joke: Arm-Fall-Off Boy.
His special power? The ability to remove his own arm—with a sound described in the comics as “PLORP!”—and use it as a weapon. It’s a dubious skill, at best. He can actually take off both arms, but once the first is removed it’s not so easy to get the other one off.
Bloodsport
Under “abilities” in this villain’s wiki entry, it just says: firearms. There have been several incarnations of this bad guy over the years, but the defining characteristic is volatility. That seems to not be the case in this film, since Idris Elba‘s version of Bloodsport is seemingly the only one who makes any sense on this ridiculous team. He appears to be the voice of the audience, face-palming at the fact that he somehow ended up on this team of the world’s most powerful losers.
Ratcatcher
Daniela Melchior is a seemingly normal young woman compared to the deranged exterminator-turned-criminal from the comics. Her character is actually Ratcatcher 2, an apprentice of the original. Can someone who commands an army of vermin ever be normal, though? Maybe that’s why she and Bloodsport get along so well. They’re the closest thing to sane on a team of the uber-disturbed.
Blackguard
The dictionary definition of “blackguard” is: 1.) a rude or unscrupulous person, and 2.) a person who uses foul or abusive language. We can probably expect both from Pete Davidson‘s take on the character who bears that name. In the comics, Blackguard was costumed as a futuristic version of a medieval knight, complete with a suit of armor and a flowing comb from his helmet.
King Shark
Finally, the real scenery-chewer of The Suicide Squad, and the closest character to Weasel to make viewers say, “WT-Actual-F.” While he may look like the R-rated version of Maui from Moana (“You’re looking at me like I have … ugh, a Shark Head,”) this is actually one of the most bloodthirsty villains in the DC universe. Voiced by Sylvester Stallone, King Shark was a creature known as Nanaue, a monster who lurked in the wild waters around Hawaii.
There are other new characters on the team, but these are the ones who get a spotlight in the trailer. Gunn may be saving a few more for later, reluctant to put all his weirdos in one basket.
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