Despite the overall critical abuse and allegations of studio tampering, Suicide Squad certainly took its comic book source material and ran with it. The roughshod amalgam of antiheroes and straight-up villains translated well to the screen, including many DC favorites like Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), as well as lesser-known nasties like Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Enchantress (Cara Delevingne). It also introduced Karen Fukuhara’s wicked samurai warrior, Tatsu Yamashiro, aka Katana.

As one of the few Squad members who isn’t an outright villain – Katana acts as Colonel Rick Flag’s bodyguard – she has one of the more interesting associations in the film. Her character also has a long and interesting history, one which many fans, and Fukuhara herself, would love to see more of.

The actress recently spoke on a panel during the Rose City Comic Con (via 411Mania). During her appearance, she was asked about the continuing adventures of Katana, and what she’d like to see from the character. Fukuhara said she'd love to reprise her role and hoped there would be more emphasis on the character's past in Suicide Squad 2. She told the convention goers:

“For the first movie I think we did a really good job of showing snippets of each character’s past and history, but it was just a glimpse. And for the sequel I’d like to show a lot more about her relationship with Soultaker, her sword, and her relationship with her husband and where she came from.”

The story of Katana is a fascinating and tragic one. During her 1983 debut in The Brave and the Bold #200, we find out that Tatsu Yamashiro’s husband and children died thanks to the exploits of her covetous brother-in-law, a ruthless Yakuza member. She takes possession of the sword that killed her husband, the Soultaker, which absorbs the essence of each person it kills, and uses her martial arts proficiency to avenge her lost family. Since then, Katana’s adventures have taken her all over the world, teaming her with the Outsiders, the Birds of Prey, the Justice League, and of course, the Suicide Squad.

In addition to expressing her desire for more Katana, Fukuhara also praised her cohorts, lauding Will Smith’s leadership and saying Margot Robbie “lived and breathed” Harley Quinn. The actress spoke about the veil of secrecy surrounding the antihero adventure. She told the crowd that she wasn’t informed about Ezra Miller playing The Flash and didn’t even know what her role was until after she landed it: “When I found out it was [Suicide Squad] like all hell broke loose.”

Currently Suicide Squad has crested the $700 million mark. With a steadily climbing box office and a strong fan reaction (just imagine the sea of Squad-related costumes this Halloween), a sequel is almost a given. Revisiting the 'heroes' would be great news for fans of the comic, which is doing very well currently, as well as those like Fukuhara who want to dig deeper into the membership of Task Force X.

As one of the DC Extended Universe’s least-explored and most interesting new characters, Katana could have a long, film-spanning life in Warner Bros.' shared comic book universe. Even if a second Suicide Squad doesn’t happen or features too many characters to allow for major history lessons, Fukuhara’s soul-taking samurai deserves a larger role in the shared universe. Hopefully, Katana will get more face time in the sequel or even a Birds of Prey movie.

Next: Suicide Squad Passes $700 Million Worldwide

Suicide Squad is now playing in theaters. Wonder Woman opens in theaters on June 2, 2017, followed by Justice League on November 17, 2017; Aquaman on July 27, 2018; an untitled DC Film on October 5, 2018; Shazam on April 5, 2019; Justice League 2 on June 14, 2019; an untitled DC film on November 1, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on July 24, 2020. The Flash, The Batman solo movie, Dark Universe and Man of Steel 2 are currently without a release dates.

Source: 411Mania