Who Is Suicide Squad 2's Villain? Everything James Gunn Has Teased

The Suicide Squad's has a team of bad guys assembled - but who will actually be the movie's villain? After James Gunn's temporary firing from Marvel Studios Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, the director was quickly snapped up by DC Films to helm a soft reboot of the Suicide Squad franchise. As excitement builds for Gunn's The Suicide Squad, there are still precious few details regarding the plot of the film. What fans do know is that the cast has been revealed to be impressively large, including returning cast members Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn) and Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang) as well as newcomers to the franchise Idris Elba, Nathan Fillion and John Cena.

Also known as Task Force X, the Suicide Squad is a team comprised of villains, used by the government to combat foes that need adversaries with an edge (with convenient plausible deniability should a mission go south). Yet Task Force X are still in need of a 'big bad' to combat; in David Ayer's Suicide Squad, this was ancient goddess called Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) that Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) attempted to use to her own ends - a move which spectacularly backfired. Enchantress was to have been joined by Jared Leto's Joker in a villainous team-up, although drastic changes to Ayer's edit led to Leto's role being drastically reduced. For James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, the villain has yet to be revealed.

James Gunn has dropped a few tidbits as to whom the villain may or may not be in The Suicide Squad, including hints at the inclusion of King Shark. Comedian Steve Agee (New Girl) announced on Twitter that he had completed principal photography on the reboot, and Gunn replied to him to thank him. Fans had theorized that due to his performance being motion capture, the most likely candidate would be King Shark - although Gunn left a cryptic message for Agee suggesting that he was playing someone who might "not be quite what people think you are." If this is a misdirect and Agee is playing King Shark, the character may or may not be the villain. In the comics, King Shark has been a member of the team as well as an adversary, so The Suicide Squad could go either way with the character (if he's included).

Set photos from The Suicide Squad's Panama shoot show a fictional flag hanging from a balcony. As reported by Digital Spy, the flag could be for the DC Comics locations Santa Prisca or Corto Maltese. In both, one villain is a constant: Kobra. The international terrorist/mad scientist is the leader of the Cult of the Cobra God, whose raison d'être is to rule the world. Kobra is a gifted combat expert and tactical genius, with an army of snake-themed goons behind him. If Kobra is to be used as the main adversary in The Suicide Squad, he and his cult will make for colorful enemies. James Gunn seems to be chasing the zany, goofy aspect of some DC villains, casting David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man and Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher. Having slightly ridiculous villains like Kobra and his cult wouldn't be out of place in opposition to anti-heroes like them.

There is precious little additional information available to aid in theorizing who the villain may be in The Suicide Squad. James Gunn has dropped a few morsels here and there, including tweeting that he had read "every single comic featuring every iteration" of the Squad. With that much research done, the director will be aware of every villain Task Force X has ever faced and more besides, leaving him spoiled for choice. Gunn has also stated that the character in The Suicide Squad with the most amount of screen time could be considered a spoiler, which may point towards that actor playing the villain. Unfortunately, it brings us no closer to knowing who the villain is. All hints so far have pointed toward either Kobra or King Shark, and the latter is potentially not even in the film. Fans can find out who the villain is when The Suicide Squad debuts in theaters in 2021.

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