The new Suicide Squad movie is so buried in secrecy and confusion that nobody seems to be quite sure what the new movie actually is. Is it a sequel? Is it a reboot? Is it called Suicide Squad 2 or is it The Suicide Squad? The only thing we know for sure is that James Gunn has written the new film, and while the movie clearly is written in the same continuity as the first Suicide Squad film, as it will include at least a couple of the same characters, it now appears that the rest of the team will be entirely different.
Margot Robbie and Jai Courtney will be returning to the new film in their respective rolls of Harley Quinn and Captain Boomerang, but it now looks like they will be the only familiar members of the brand new team. Previously, it had been announced that Idris Elba would be taking over the role of Deadshot from Will Smith, but it now appears the plan is for him to take on an entirely new character.
It's been reported that David Dastmalchian was recently cast, apparently to play Polka-Dot Man. Beyond that, THR says that the rest of the new team will be made up of the characters of Ratcatcher, Peacemaker, and King Shark.
Ratcatcher is a character who has the ability to train and control rats. Traditionally, the character is a former actual rat catcher of Gotham City named Otis Flannegan, but based on the pronouns being used, it seems the plan is gender swap the character and make Ratcatcher female.
The Peacemaker is a man named Christopher Smith who is so committed to the cause of peace that he's willing to use (non-lethal) violence to achieve it. The rumor that Peacemaker would be part of Suicide Squad 2 has been around for a while. The word is the role was originally written for Dave Bautista, but due to conflicts, it seems fellow WWE alum John Cena might be circling it now.
King Shark is literally a humanoid shark. One assumes he'll be taking on the role of the Suicide Squad's muscle, since it doesn't appear Killer Croc is returning. Perhaps this will be Idris Elba's role in the film. If not, there is at least one more character we don't know about.
And then there's Polka Dot Man, who is a minor villain from the Batman rogues gallery, who tended to commit crimes with polka dot themes. He also wears a polka dot costume where each dot can be removed and used a different sort of weapon.
This is certainly an eclectic cast of characters, but that's part of what makes the Suicide Squad so interesting. And if there's anything we've learned about James Gunn's history with comic book characters, he has the ability to take an odd group of strange characters and bring them together in a way that isn't just fun and exciting but also oddly heartwarming. If anybody can make this team work its James Gunn.
The Suicide Squad is currently in pre-production and is set for release in August of 2021.
