The Suicide Squad gets a new poster showing the cast covered in mini starros. James Gunn is known for directing the first two volumes of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, but for his highly anticipated next project, the superhero auteur is tackling a DC property with his own take on the titular team of supervillains. Gunn’s version won’t address its predecessor, 2016’s Suicide Squad from director David Ayer, in any significant way other than returning a few characters.
Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) make up the returning Task Force X roster, along with their ruthless leader, Amanda Waller, portrayed by Viola Davis. Gunn also dug deep into DC Comics' obscurity to assemble a whole new lineup of lovable delinquents, Peacemaker (John Cena) and Bloodsport (Idris Elba) among them. For the film’s villain, Gunn went with another odd choice in Starro the Conqueror, a giant blue starfish that hails from outer space and has powers of mind-control.
Now, the upcoming DCEU film has gotten a brand new poster. Writer/director James Gunn shared the poster on his Instagram page which highlights all 16 members of the Suicide Squad but with one small caveat: their faces are covered by mini starros. Check out the new poster below:
This poster is ostensibly a reference to issue #190 of the Justice League comic that was published in 1981 and featured Superman and other members of the team with their faces covered by mini Starros. Gunn referenced this very comic recently when explaining why he chose Starro to be the film’s villain, citing the fact that he was terrified by the giant starfish as a kid.
It’s unclear if this poster is merely a creative marketing ploy or a hint that mini Starros will play a role in the film, but this was hinted at in the recent trailer in which Starro is seen birthing a bunch of mini starfish out of the sky, although this moment flashed by a little too quickly for many to notice. In the comics, star conquerors are able to asexually reproduce vast numbers of offspring that latch onto and enslave the minds of their subjects. While the idea of a kaiju-sized telepathic starfish in The Suicide Squad was already terrifying enough, the idea of thousands of mini Starros latching onto Task Force X’s faces somehow ratchets up the fear factor.
Source: James Gunn
