The following story will contain MAJOR spoilers for the new movie The Suicide Squad, so stop reading now if you haven’t yet seen it.
The sprawling cast of James Gunn’s all-star production The Suicide Squad doesn’t really need to add more names to attract one’s attention. When the opening credits already include Sylvester Stallone, Margot Robbie, John Cena, Idris Elba and Viola Davis, you have heavy hitters. But there was always one announced cast member whose role remained a mystery… until now.
The Suicide Squad is currently in theaters and on HBO Max, attracting DC fans and comic-book faithful to the latest offering from James Gunn. Reviews have been off the charts good, and we hope the box office is strong. But we went into the movie wondering who Thor: Ragnarok director and Free Guy co-star Taika Waititi would be playing. He was confirmed to join the superhero thriller way back in August 2019, but his part was kept secret. Now, we can tell you that he played Ratcatcher 1, the father of Daniela Melchior’s scene-stealing Ratcatcher 2.
You have to wait until near the end of the movie to meet Taika Waititi’s character, and he only appears in a dark, shadowy flashback to a time where Ratcatcher 2 is a child. Sitting next to her father, she asks the man why rats are the creatures he prefers to control. And he answers with a philosophic observation that, when read a different way, can also be applied to the rejects who make up The Suicide Squad. Ratcatcher 1 says:
Rats are the lowliest and most despised of all creatures, my love. But they have purpose. So do we all.
Mind you, this touching piece of self-love passed down from father to daughter takes place right before thousands of rats in Ratcatcher 2’s control penetrate the giant eyeball of Starro and begin to devour the extraterrestrial from the inside. Which is every bit as disgusting as it sounds. But that nails James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, to a tee. It’s dysfunctional and gory, but packed with unmistakable heart, and a wave of support for the underdogs. It’s beautiful. Really.
There were a few wild guesses regarding who Taika Waititi was going to play in The Suicide Squad. Until we knew that Sylvester Stallone played King Shark, that was where I was placing my bet. Kind of like a Korg situation, but at DC. And Gunn recently confessed in an interview that he originally approached Taika to play one of the expendable team members who dies super early on the beach. I wonder who?
See The Suicide Squad now that it’s available to screen in theaters, and on HBO Max. As Eric Eisenberg notes in CinemaBlend’s official review, it’s well worth your time.
