Sunday 23 August 2020

DC EU: The Suicide Squad roll call

 The full roll call for The Suicide Squad has been released. Here's the rundown of the various villains and antiheroes we'll be seeing in James Gunn's sequel treatment.


Viola Davis as Amanda Waller

Waller is the most important element in the plot given that she's the badass who brings the various lunatics together. Davis, always an powerful actor, reprises her role from the first Suicide Squad, providing much needed continuity.

Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag

Also reprising his role as the commander of the team in the field, Kinnamen's looking particularly hard-as-nails in this role call. He was one of the better elements of the first film so it's good to have him back.

Michael Rooker as the Savant

It's a James Gunn movie so a role for Rooker is obligatory, but he's never anything less than watchable so we don't mind. Real name Brian Durlin, the Savant is a hyper-intelligent vigilante who basically set himself up as a rival to Batman in his early appearances in the Birds of Prey comics. A chemical imbalance in his brain menas he struggles to retain his memories.

Flula Borg as Javelin

DJ Flula is a German YouTube personality-cum-comedian who's apparently a bit of a big deal these days, but I lose track of these things. He's got a lot of voice work under his belt including some DC cartoons, and he looks great as Javelin. A former athlete who has turned to a life of crime, Javelin is one of the sillier characters to be included in The Suicide Squad and I'm thrilled they're going with these sort of daft C-list villains. Anyway, javelins are well nasty.

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn

The other returning star and the big draw of the film, after her scene stealing turn in the first film and her headlining of Birds of Prey (which I still haven't seen but will honestly get round to soon). It'll be good to see her take on the role of the SS's best and barmiest without the Joker's shadow over her.

David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man

Oh my word, they're using Polka-Dot Man! Abner Krill uses a miraculous costume that utilise its polka-dots as various weapons, which is the sort of mental idea DC films just don't have the guts to use often enough.Weirdly, he never appeared on the 60s Batman series, and his only film appearance before this was a non-speaking cameo on The Lego Batman Movie. Dastmalchian has form as Abra Kadabra on The Flash and was brilliant in Ant-Man, so stoked for his casting.

Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2

Another Batman villain, the original Ratcatcher, Otis Flannegan, originated in Detective Comics in the 80s. Melchior's version would seem to be a follower of the Flannegan, perhaps his daughter.Presumably she can talk to rats like her predecessor. Melchior is a Portoguese actor who I'm totally unfamiliar with, and is playing one of the newest members of the Squad. At 23 she's the youngest member of the cast.

Idris Elba as Bloodsport

Big name star Idris Elba is a huge addition to the cast. Early rumours suggested he'd be replacing Will Smith as Deadshot, (and that was probably the original idea) but it's probably better that he's getting his own character. There have been various villains called Bloodsport in DC Comics, ususally as Superman enemies, but Elba's is the original, Robert DuBois. A mentally scarred veteran, DuBois utilises extremely advanced weaponry including kryptonite bullets, and his inclusion in the film hints at some link to Lex Luthor, who commonly employed him.

King Shark

The metahuman/shark-hybrid/demigod (origins vary) was one of the most fun elements of The Flash series and it'll be good to have a monster character on The Suicide Squad. He's going to be CGI, of course, and Steve Agee has been involved with the voicework, but it's not confirmed he's in the final film. Taika Waititi is rumoured to be re-recording the lines.

Mayling Ng and Mongal

An alien warrior, Mongal is the sister of Mongul and is a perennial enemy of Superman and Green Lantern. Extremely strong, she's perhaps the most powerful of the squad. Ng is an actor and martial artist who's previously had roles on Wonder Woman and Scorpion King: Book of Souls.

Peter Capaldi as the Thinker

The most exciting casting for me, the great Peter Capaldi is taking on the role of Clifford DeVoe, the hyperintelligent mastermind who's been a major enemy of the Flash over the years. Neil Sandilands played him on season four of The Flash but wasn't very interesting in it; I can't wait to see how Capaldi plays him.

Alice Braga as Sol Soria

The talented Brazilian actor Alice Braga won acclaim for City of God and has genre experience from Repo Men, I Am Legend, Elysium and Predators. She's also going to be in The New Mutants when it finally appears. Sol Soris seems to be a version of Juan Soria, a minor villain who's a wannabe superhero.

Pete Davisdon as Blackguard

Richard Hertz aka Blackguard is a mercenary bestowed with technologically advanced armour. Best known as a comedian and comedy actor, Pete Davidson won acclaim for his role as star and co-writer of The King of Staten Island earlier this year. He has presence.

Nathan Fillion as TDK

The Firefly and Castle star is always good value and another favourite of James Gunn. Floyd Belkin is a metahuman from the far future in the comics, originally going by the name Arm-Fall-Off Boy. One of the most ridiculous of DC's characters, he can detach his limbs and use them as weapons. This should be... interesting to see onscreen. Belkin changed his name to Splitter, but here seems to be going by TDK, although what that stands for we can't yet say. Surely he's not calling himself The Dark Knight? I've heard suggested that it's The Dismemberment Kid.

Sean Gunn as Weasel

Another obligatory James Gunn casting choice, it's his brother Sean, who provided the motion capture for Rocket Raccoon on Guardians of the Galaxy. This time it seems he'll be voicing the character as well, but there's the risk this will be more of the same. John Munroe is a low-life who becomes a costumed villain in the comics, although the movie version seems to be based more on the rebooted New 52 version, and looks like he's actually part weasel.

Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang

One more returning cast member. Courtney was great fun as the wonderfully loopy Captain Boomerang in the first film, and it's good to have him back. He can take comfort that he's no longer the owner of the most ridiculous name on the squad.

John Cena as Peacemaker

The legendary John Cena plays Christopher Smith, the Peacemaker. Described by Cena as "a douchey Captain America," Peacemaker believes in peace at all costs, and it doesn't matter how many people die to get it. Pretty much the most American character ever, then.






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