While the Suicide Squad is primarily composed of super villains that are eager to get reduced prison sentences, not everyone on the team is a criminal. Case in point, Katana, who in the DC Comics universe is a superhero that’s been a member of the Justice League and The Outsiders. Her history with the Suicide Squad is being kept intact for their 2016 blockbuster, but aside from her being in the team picture, and a few quick shots of her in the Comic-Con trailer, we haven’t learned anything about this version of the character (played by Karen Fukuhara). Fortunately, we now know how Katana will be used in the movie: as a bodyguard.
In their big Suicide Squad coverage this issue, Empire Magazine (via Comicbook.com) provided some snippets of dialogue from the movie, including team leader Rick Flag (played by Joel Kinnaman) introducing Katana, who will protect him out in the field. He then gives them this warning:
She's got my back. I'd advise not getting killed by her - her sword traps the souls of its victims.
For those unfamiliar with the character, Katana, a.k.a. Tats Yamashiro, is not only a skilled martial artist, but also a master swordsman who wields the Soultaker. Her blade captures the souls of its victims (including her husband Maseo Yamashiro), allowing Katana to communicate with them. So moviegoers will see those same effects in Suicide Squad, adding another degree of magic/mysticism to the DC Extended Universe.
It’s also a good idea for Flag to have a bodyguard accompanying him. When you’re working with a group of people who will likely kill you the first chance they get, you need someone watching your back, and Katana is skilled enough to take on all of those bloodthirsty bad guys, including Harley Quinn, who introduces herself to Katana by asking if the perfume she’s wearing is Stench of Death. Oh, Harley, you always know how to make a great first impression.
In the comics, Katana joined forces with the Suicide Squad to help them prevent an shipment of weapons from being sold to the Yakuza. It’s unclear whether Suicide Squad’s Katana will be a crimefighter that willingly joins the Squad or if she’s one of the nicer inmates that’s been forced onto the team, but either way, she’ll be more concerned with keeping an eye on Flag than hatching any schemes with the other criminals. The movie will be Katana’s second live action appearance following Rila Fukushima’s portrayal in Arrow Season 3, where she was an ally to Oliver Queen in flashbacks and later assisted Team Arrow in the present day as Katana near the end of the season.
You can see Katana alongside some of DC’s band of government-sponsored evildoers when Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 5, 2016.
