The Suicide Squad

Reportedly, James Gunn’s script for ‘The Suicide Squad’, a soft reboot of the franchise begun in 2016’s ‘Suicide Squad’, will include mostly all new characters, with only Deadshot and Harley Quinn returning.  But while Margot Robbie will reprise her role as Harley (although possibly in a reduced role), Will Smith will not return as Deadshot.  Instead, it is now rumored that Idris Elba will replace him.

With Captain Boomerang, Diablo, Katana, and Killer Croc out, what DC characters does Gunn plan on utilizing?  These are the colorful crooks that are rumored to be part of his script:

Peacemaker — Christopher Smith was created for Charlton Comics in 1966, and was a devoted pacifist seeking to bring peace to humanity.  In his struggle against aggressive foreign governments, Smith carried an arsenal of non-lethal weaponry.

Upon being bought and integrated into DC’s roster, the character suddenly began carrying traditional firearms and became a misguided vigilante who wanted peace so desperately, he would kill to achieve it.

In Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ landmark comic book series ‘Watchmen’, Peacemaker was modified into The Comedian.

Reportedly, Gunn wrote Peacemaker into his script, it was with the intention of his ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ star Dave Bautista taking the role.  Stay tuned to see if that works out!

King Shark — A possible Hawaiian deity, King Shark started off as a foe of Superboy’s, but being a huge shark-man, other writers were keen to use him and he soon became an all-purpose DC heavy.  Many more people are now fans of the character thanks to his appearances on ‘The Flash’.  He originally appeared with a regular shark-like head.  During the New 52 reboot, he was redesigned to look more like a hammerhead.

Ratcatcher — A former Gotham City exterminator, Otis Flannegan turned to a life of crime with his power to telepathically control rats.  He also uses poisonous gases, similar to the ones he used in his civilian identity.  Like many of the Suicide Squad baddies, he is typically a Batman foe.

Reportedly, in the film, Gunn has gender-swapped Ratcatcher, making him a young woman.  It is also rumored that Deadshot will assume a surrogate father-like role with her.

Polka-Dot Man — Originally known as Mr. Polka-Dot, Abner Krill, another Batman rogue, plucks the multicolored polka-dots from his costume, which can perform a variety of feats, like turning into fireballs or even an escape vehicle.  Though dead in the mainstream DC Universe, he is depicted as a member of the Suicide Squad in the video game ‘Injustice 2’.  He was also shown in ‘The LEGO Batman Movie’ and even got his own LEGO Minifigure.

Take all of this with a grain of salt for now, but this could be a fun gathering to see onscreen.  Polka-Dot Man may go the way of Slipknot in the first, but Gunn managed to work magic with some offbeat characters in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, like Drax, Rocket, Groot, even Taser-Face.  So if anyone can make Polka-Dot Man work, it’s him.

But check back for further updates.

‘The Suicide Squad’ will be released in theaters on August 6, 2021.

What DC villains would you like to see in ‘The Suicide Squad’?

Source: Collider