While the Suicide Squad has existed in DC Comics lore since 1959, the modern incarnations of the team, i.e. incarcerated super-criminals who are sent on dangerous black-ops missions in exchange for leniency, didn’t come around until the late 1980s. We have writer John Ostrander to thank for this reinterpretation, and now it turns out that he’ll cameo in the Suicide Squad’s next movie.
The Suicide Squad director James Gunn confirmed that John Ostrander is involved in Task Force X’s next cinematic adventure after an eagle-eyed fan spotted him in a new picture that was released. Here’s what Gunn had to say on Twitter:
To provide context, John Ostrander’s Dr. Fitzgibbon is seen alongside another doctor running some kind of checkup/experiment on Michael Rooker’s Savant, one of the baddies who’s part of The Suicide Squad’s main lineup. Since Savant is wearing orange prison duds in the picture, one can assume that Fitzgibbon and his associate are employed by Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller, the head of the Suicide Squad, either at the Belle Reve prison or another facility.
James Gunn has previously said that John Ostrander’s Suicide Squad run from the comics heavily influenced The Suicide Squad, so it’s incredibly fitting that the writer will cameo in the movie. Plus, it’s a nice bonus that Ostrander has some acting experience under his belt, so rather than just silently pop in and out, one would imagine he’ll get to say a line or two.
If you’re looking to get a feel for how The Suicide Squad will feel tonally, John Ostrander’s five-year Suicide Squad run (much of which he co-wrote with his late wife, Kim Yale) is definitely worth checking out. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Ostrander’s work at DC Comics, with his other notable credits including runs on Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Spectre and Firestorm the Nuclear Man.
While The Suicide Squad does have some ties to its 2016 predecessor, as evidenced by the return of Amanda Waller, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang and Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag, for the most part, this is intended to be a standalone sequel. There will certainly be no shortage of new characters for audiences to become acquainted with, from Idris Elba’s Bloodsport and John Cena’s Peacemaker (who’s also getting his own HBO Max series) to David Dastmalchian’s Polka-Dot Man and Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher 2. Even King Shark has been thrown into the mix!
A Suicide Squad sequel was announced months before the first movie came out, but it wasn’t until fall 2018 that James Gunn was reportedly being lined up for the project, with his involvement becoming official in early 2019. Gunn being hired for The Suicide Squad happened a few months after he was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and it turns out that Marvel Studios called to rehire him onto the threequel the day after he signed onto the DC movie. Talk about weird timing.
An official trailer for The Suicide Squad hasn’t been released yet, but take a look at the behind-the-scenes featurette that was shown at DC FanDome below.
The Suicide Squad is still set to hit theaters on August 6, 2021, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates about it. Don’t forget to also look through our DC movies guide to learn what else this corner of the superhero movie market has coming up.
