James Gunn’s movies are a good bet to receive laughs from, with The Suicide Squad proving to be another hilarious work from the director. Although the backdrop of Task Force X’s mission of fighting Starro in the violent Corto Maltese environment seems intimidating, the movie was masterful in its presentation of dark comedy.
To this end, each main character had funny material to make use of, be it deranged personalities like Peacemaker and Harley Quinn, or kindhearted ones like Ratcatcher 2 and Polka-Dot Man. Since The Suicide Squad relies heavily on its comedic attributes, it’s worth taking a deeper look into which characters were funnier than others.
Rick Flag
Although he finally grew a funny bone compared to his bland demeanor in the first movie, Rick Flag's personality was geared more toward his heroic potential. He was still humorous to follow in his own way, with Flag’s comedy coming from his acting like a dork and being taken aback by the antics of the rest.
This was seen best when he was at a loss for words after his plan to save Harley was useless as she saved herself, along with his claims that he didn’t pick the team when everyone was dying like cannon fodder around him.
Bloodsport
It would do fans well to read Bloodsport's comic book stories before watching the movie to get a feel of his skills, although his comedy is original to the DCEU. Bloodsport is similar to Flag in that he was a funny character whose development into being a leader was more important.
The most humorous part about Bloodsport was his fear of rats, reducing him to a whimpering man who was too afraid to even move. His sarcastic style also brought in some laughs, as Bloodsport had wisecracks to dole out toward everyone.
Captain Boomerang
A character who was known mainly for being a wiseacre, Captain Boomerang lived and died making similar remarks. Although he was killed off in the opening, he was the main source for comedy at that time, sarcastically flirting with Savant and mocking Blackguard for thinking Weasel was a dog.
There was something funny about the way he died as well, as Boomerang had a cheeky grin even after he was impaled by the helicopter shards. Given further screen time, Boomerang would’ve likely had a lot more funny moments to offer.
Task Force X - Team A
The first squad’s entire purpose was to act as a distraction for Team B to reach the shore unawares. Although they got brutally killed, their deaths made for great dark comedy, with things like TDK’s ridiculous hitting of army guards met with heavy gunfire and Harley slapping the dead Javelin’s face to ask him questions.
Team A served to establish that The Suicide Squad was going in hard for its R-rating, with foul-mouthed humor to go along with their over-the-top death scenes, Despite being killed off early, they did deliver plenty of memorable bits of comedy.
Amanda Waller's Aides
Amanda Waller has always been aware of most of the biggest secrets in the DCEU, with Waller killing her aides in the first movie to protect herself. However, The Suicide Squad much funnier members of her team, who were made out to be akin to video game streamers as they bet on who would win or die and made jokes around about the situation, were better.
They were given a sense of morality as well when they denied Waller from killing Bloodsport and the others, making the aides’ personas out to be like nerds who were scared when things got too serious.
Ratcatcher 2
As the sweet-natured heart of the team, Ratcatcher 2’s comedic aspect was through her extremely naive nature. This included moments like joking about the fact that she was almost eaten by King Shark and treating her pet rat as if it were a human friend.
Moreover, Ratcatcher 2 was funny mainly due to the contrast she provided to the violent backdrop, as she seemed unfazed by the brutal deaths around her. She also had a few well-timed comments that eased the tension, such as calling Peacemaker the “weird one” after initially believing that to be Polka-Dot Man.
Polka-Dot Man
There was an endearing quality over just how meek Polka-Dot Man was, providing his fair share of comedy through this. The funniest part about him was his tendency to imagine his mother in every situation, resulting in scenarios where viewers saw dancers, Starro, and enemies all looking like Polka-Dot Man’s mother.
His buzzkill comments were another aspect that delivered some dark comedy, as Polka-Dot Man would interfere with the mood by making claims that alluded to the death wish he carried.
Harley Quinn
Staying true to her violently comedic character from her previous two appearances, Harley once again used her erratic moments for funny material. She also had the benefit of extended musical sequences that suddenly appeared in the midst of violence, where Harley sang and danced ignoring everything else.
Harley kept a running gag throughout the movie of being clueless over what Javelin wanted her to do with his weapon, leading to her bringing this up at the worst moments. Her flighty nature once again shined through in hilarious ways as she kept forgetting everyone’s names and calling them Milton.
King Shark
For a character who could come up with barely intelligible sentences, King Shark had some of the best quotes in The Suicide Squad. These were nonsensical things like pointing at his hand to tell people about it for no reason, along with making numerous attempts to eat everyone and failing.
It was his adorable quality that made King Shark so funny, as he was unaware of the gravity of the situation and just tried to make friends. He was hilarious in scenes where he didn’t even do anything as it highlighted his cluelessness, such as when King Shark sat idly around while the rest danced in the club.
Peacemaker
Those who took the time to read Peacemaker stories before The Suicide Squad will have known just how much of a jerk he’s supposed to be. Still, it’s this detachment with reality that was his greatest comedic asset, as Peacemaker kept ranting about how much he loved liberty while killing innocent bystanders.
Quite a few of the gags came from physical comedy, as his awkward mannerisms like Peacemaker’s horrible dance skills and tendency to walk around in his underwear were hilarious moments to watch. His complete inability to understand just how violent he appeared when he tried to leave look like a man of peace really stood out to make him a unique character.