There are a ton of characters in James Gunn's Suicide Squad movie, so how do they compare to the source material?
One of the fun things about superhero movies is seeing characters you would have never imagined being brought to life tossed up on the big screen. A decade ago, people were impressed to see A and B list heroes and villains being cast, but these days? Just about anything goes, including some of the most obscure and off-the-wall pulls possible. And that's exactly what James Gunn did for The Suicide Squad.
This time around, the team is built up of a mix of anti-heroes and villains, some of which you're definitely familiar with, and others who were basically invented or reinvented for the movie altogether. So where does everyone fall into that spectrum?
We took a look at the entire massive lineup of Task Force X members (and their cohorts) for this movie and stacked them up next to their comic book selves (assuming they have one to begin with). Here's how everyone measured up to the source material.
Be warned, there are some vague spoilers for the movie to be found here, so if you haven't watched yet and would prefer to go in knowing nothing, head to a theater or over to HBO Max to watch it right now.
Harley Quinn
It'd be harder to find a more prominent character across all corners of the DCU, from movies to animated shows to comics, than Harley Quinn--and as such, she's got a lot going on and changes fairly frequently depending on the story. The movie version is basically exactly what you'll find in the comics these days, however.
Bloodsport
Robert DuBois was a product of the late '80s in the comics, and a draft evading military man who was obsessed with the Vietnam War--in other words, absolutely nothing like the character we see in the movie played by Idris Elba. He did, however, actually shoot Superman with a kryptonite bullet in the comics--that much is consistent.
Peacemaker
Ironically, unlike his rival Bloodsport, Peacemaker is actually pretty close to his comic book counterpart--with one major exception: comic book Christopher Smith actually got his start as a literal pacifist who used non-lethal weapons, and later developed his peace-through-violence mania thanks to his Nazi father, who he believes haunts him (kind of like Polka-Dot Man's mom in the movie).
Ratcatcher 2
Ratcatcher 2 actually doesn't exist in the comics--but Ratcatcher 1 does, to a point. Otis Flannegan was a Gotham city native who trained rats to attack and became a real pain for Batman. He was a pretty far cry from the altruistic but troubled guy played by Taika Waititi in the movie.
Polka-Dot Man
Abner Krill is another villain that got a total makeover for the movie. In the comics, his goofy, polka-dot covered costume provides Inspector Gadget-style tools. How? We just don't know. Suffice to say, his mom never infected him with an interdimensional virus in the comics.
King Shark
Nanaue is another character that has multiple differing incarnations across different corners of the DCU. His design even changes dramatically--sometimes he looks like a Great White, other times he's a Hammerhead. Sometimes he's completely sentient and very intelligent, other times he's much closer to the movie's simple minded beastman.
TDK
While a character named TDK doesn't exist in DC Comics, he's clearly based on Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, who, yes, was a real (hilarious) background character who briefly existed in Legion of Super-Heroes. No, the two are nothing alike aside from sharing the same powers, but we'll just give them the deep cut on this one.
Javelin
We don't get to know much about Javelin in the movie, but his design and power (the ability to, uh, use a javelin) seem pretty consistent with the version in the comics.
Blackguard
In the comics, Blackguard is a D-list villain who sometimes fights Booster Gold who kind of fights like a medieval knight. In the movie, all we know about Blackguard is that he tried to sell the Squad out and died for it. Interestingly, the word "blackguard" is an old school slang for a scoundrel, so that's probably more where the movie version came in, rather than taking direct cues from the comics.
Mongal
Movie and comic book Mongal share very similar designs, and there's even a throwaway line about being unsure if she's an alien. In the comics she is, but there definitely wasn't time to get into that on Corto Maltese.
Thinker
Design-wise, movie Thinker looks a lot like comics Thinker--but that's about where the similarities end. In the comics, Thinker is a powerful telekinetic who can also control people's minds, thanks to all those nodes in his brain, but in the movie he just seems like a guy who likes to do evil science with some weird body mods and no powers whatsoever.
Rick Flag
Another familiar face returning from the original Suicide Squad movie, Flag is consistent between the two versions, and actually pretty close to his comic book self--he even gets his yellow shirt uniform in this movie (though traditionally it doesn't have a goofy little bunny on the front.)
Weasel
The totally animal, apparently only vaguely sentient version of Weasel was invented for the movie. In the comics, he's a human who was mutated (or, alternatively, just a human who used the codename, depending on which version you're looking at).
Savant
Movie Savant is an expert maskman, but in the comics he's actually just a fairly run of the mill genius, like his code name implies. Savant can quickly learn anything, including martial arts forms and languages, but also quickly forgets them because of a chemical imbalance in his brain. He and the movie version do look almost identical, however.
Captain Boomerang
The final returning character from the first movie, Boomer is closely based on the first Captain Boomerang in the comics, and is about as similar design-wise and ability-wise as you can get to the modern version. The original Boomerang wore what looked like a flight attendant uniform covered in Boomerangs, so he really dodged a bullet on that one.
Sol Soria
Sol Soria was created for the movie, but is (extremely loosely) based on a comic book squad member named Juan Soria, who robbed a bank after failing in his Justice League try-outs. So, really, Sol and Juan only share a surname--but we'll give credit where credit is due.
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