Earlier this week, it was reported that Peter Capaldi, arguably best known for playing The Twelfth Doctor on Doctor Who, had been cast in The Suicide Squad, the 11th entry in the DC Extended Universe. While we still don’t know yet who Capaldi will be playing, evidently it’ll be someone rocking a chrome dome, judging by his current look and recent comments he made.
At the end of last month, Peter Capaldi was among the many celebrity guests who attended Fan Expo Canada, and during his panel (recorded by The Convention Junkies), he acknowledged his shaved head and explained why he ultimately has to get rid of all his hair soon, saying:
I hope it’s going to come back. No, it’s for — I can’t — you know, at the moment I can’t tell you, not because I don’t want to tell you, but because I’m not allowed to tell you — but I’m going to be completely bald. So — and I said — so, they started it because they had to do some prosthetics. So, they had to take my hair back as much [as possible] and I said, ‘Could you leave a little bit? Because I’m going to Toronto.’ So, they left a little bit and we did some head casts, and stuff. And then I came here, so that’s why. But when I go home, it’s going to go again. All the way.
While Peter Capaldi didn’t outright mention The Suicide Squad, given that the movie is scheduled to begin filming later this month, one can logically put the pieces together after this week’s announcement and deduce that he shaved his head for the DC movie. His mention of prosthetics also suggests that there’ll be something unusual going on with his head, as opposed to the character just being your average bald guy.
While this information does narrow down who Peter Capaldi’s The Suicide Squad character could be, there are still plenty of candidates left on the table. One popular guess circulating around social media is that he’s playing Psimon (seen center in the image below), originally a physicist called Simon Jones who was transformed into a powerful psychic with telekinetic and telepathic powers by the demon Trigon. Outside of the printed page, Psimon prominently appeared in the Teen Titans and Young Justice animated shows.
Since The Suicide Squad is about to begin principal photography, hopefully we’ll learn soon who Peter Capaldi is playing. He’s among the many actors who’s joined the sequel/reboot/relaunch/whatever this movie who’s supposed to be whose roles are being kept under wraps, with others including Idris Elba (who was originally supposed to take over as Deadshot from Will Smith), Flula Borg, Nathan Fillion and Taika Waititi.
As for characters we do know will appear, they include four familiar faces from 2016’s Suicide Squad: Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang, Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller and Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag. The new additions include David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher and Steve Agee as King Shark, as well as Storm Reid playing the daughter of Idris Elba’s character.
John Cena and Benicio del Toro were also in talks to play Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad’s main villain, respectively, but it’s unclear if they actually joined the cast. Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson has also been approached to make a cameo appearance.
After being fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, James Gunn was tapped to write and direct The Suicide Squad, and while he was later rehired onto the Guardians’ third movie, he’ll deliver the next cinematic Task Force X adventure beforehand. Cameras are set to begin rolling at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta, Georgia on September 23.
The Suicide Squad charges into theaters on August 6, 2021, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on how it’s coming along, and be sure to look through our DC movies guide to learn what else this franchise has coming down the pipeline.
