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Taking on a giant intergalactic starfish to take over the world might seem like a job for Superman, but in “The Suicide Squad” it’s up to Task Force X’s D-List supervillains to save the day… or, more frequently, to die trying.
After David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad” in 2016, this new take by James Gunn (in theaters and on HBO Max) brings back Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), while adding a new set of team members drawn from the depths of the pages of DC Comics history. Here’s a guide to the comic book origins of some of those lesser-known team members.
Blood sport
Reluctant Task Force X leader Robert DuBois (Idris Elba) is a skilled mercenary called Bloodsport. The character first appeared in the Superman comic book series in 1987. DuBois escaped the Vietnam War project, but his brother went in his place and lost arms and legs in battle. Robert has a nervous breakdown in response and engages in a murderous rampage against innocent civilians. His brother ultimately belittles him, but not before Robert seriously injures Superman with a kryptonite bullet.
The Bloodsport comic book character was equipped with technology that apparently allowed him to fire weapons from the air, and the incarnation of the film achieves a similar effect by hiding weapons in his armor. While his Vietnam-era motivation was abandoned for the film, Bloodsport’s family remains important to him: he joins the team to prevent his daughter from going to jail for a minor offense, a sentence threatened by Amanda. Waller (Viola Davis), the vindictive leader of Task Force X.
Peacemaker
In the film, John Cena plays this self-proclaimed pacifist who will kill everyone he needs in his quest to keep the peace. In this incarnation, the character is much less in conflict over the contradictions between his mission and his methods than when he made his debut in the Charlton Comics ‘Fightin’ 5 series in 1966. He was Christopher Smith, a diplomat who uses to the fight against crime using non-lethal tactics. DC Comics acquired the characters of Charlton in the 1980s, and Peacemaker was reimagined as a more deadly figure, a character similar to Marvel’s Punisher, albeit more psychotic.
Peacemaker’s bizarre helmet originally had the ability to fire lasers, and for a time he believed this allowed him to communicate with the souls of the people he had killed, although this turned out to be more later be a symptom of mental illness. Cena will reprise the character in an upcoming “Peacemaker” television series on HBO Max.
Cleo Cazo (Daniela Melchior) is a female interpretation of the Ratcatcher, a Batman villain who first appeared in Detective Comics in 1988. The original Ratcatcher was a rodent expert who trained rats to attack and kill enemies. His real identity was Otis Flannegan, a sanitation worker who was sent to jail for murder. He sought revenge by holding those who left him captive, though Batman eventually uncovered his hiding place and freed his surviving prisoners.
Kinder and friendlier than her comic book counterpart, the film’s Ratcatcher 2 was unfairly imprisoned as her ability to control rats was seen as a deadly weapon. As its name suggests, it is not the first; her father appears in flashbacks and is played by filmmaker Taika Waititi.
Polka Dot Man
Portrayed by David Dastmalchian in the film, Polka-Dot Man is iconic of Batman’s camper opponents of the 1960s. In the comics, Abner Krill, who was originally named Mister Polka-Dot, was a criminal with access to an array of dot-like weapons and tech, including circular saw points, projectile points, and points that can be assembled into a flying saucer.
Considering the character’s silliness (Gunn called him “the dumbest DC character ever”), it might not be surprising to find that Polka-Dot Man has made very few appearances. in the comics over the years. His powers were also revised for the film; rather than using polka dot technology, he now suffers from a disorder that causes deadly peas to grow inside his body; if they are not expelled, they will kill him.
King shark
King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone) is an extremely dangerous and extremely stupid human-shark hybrid. The character first appeared in an issue of Superboy in 1994, but he was also a nemesis of Aquaman. Unlike most of the other characters in the film, King Shark has a long history of belonging to the Suicide Squad in the comics, and he was originally considered for inclusion in the first film.
Although the character was redesigned to be a hammer in 2011, the film is reverting to his original appearance as a great white shark. Most recently, a technical geek version of King Shark voiced by Ron Funches appeared in the animated series “Harley Quinn”. While less evil than its comic book counterpart, it still retains its taste for human flesh.
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