What new characters should join the team in Suicide Squad 2? Despite recent upheaval in the DCEU with the apparent departure of Henry Cavill from his role as Superman, development continues on the sequel to the 2016 blockbuster. Director Gavin O'Connor (Warrior) signed on to helm the film, taking over from David Ayer (Bright), who directed the original, and Suicide Squad 2 reportedly remains a priority at Warner Bros., despite a slight delay.
Fans continuing the long wait to see the Worst Heroes Ever cause more big screen mayhem received some good news: co-screenwriter Todd Stashwick announced he and O'Connor have finished their draft of the Suicide Squad 2 screenplay. They're also not looking to reinvent a very successful wheel - Stashwick indicated their draft is "very much a sequel" to Suicide Squad, which means fans can look forward to familiar sights like Belle Reve Prison and its motley crew of inmates-turned-black operatives like Deadshot (Will Smith), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), and, of course, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie).
Related: What's Going On With Suicide Squad 2?
While Stashwick has kept mum regarding details, it's safe to assume Suicide Squad 2 will toss a few new characters into the mix. After all, the very nature of how the devious Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) designed Task Force X is that they're expendable, which results in a rotating cast. Fans can guess that in the years since they last saw the Squad, there have been more casualties, just like how El Diablo (Jay Hernandez) and Slipknot (Adam Beach) perished in the original film. The Suicide Squad concept is also an ideal way to shine a spotlight on the colorful B-level supervillains of the DC Universe.
The big names of the Squad like Harley, Deadshot, and Boomerang are very likely to return, but no doubt the ranks of the team will be filled by a few more DC baddies. Here are our picks for supervillains who would be cool to see forced to become the next Worst Heroes Ever:
Poison Ivy
Harley Quinn's romance with the Joker (Jared Leto) was one of the main aspects of Suicide Squad. While Mr. J could return (it's one of many Joker-related movies), the sequel could also introduce Harley's other great love from the comics: Poison Ivy. (In fact, Ivy and Harley got married in the alternate universe comic Injustice 2!) This could create a compelling love triangle for the affections of everyone's favorite insane former psychiatrist.
Poison Ivy has been a mainstay on TV's Gotham but she hasn't been seen in a live-action movie since Uma Thurman played the botanical beauty in 1997's Batman and Robin. Ivy is a serious threat too; also known as Dr. Pamela Isley, she can control plant life while toxins in her bloodstream make her touch poisonous while rendering her immune to all diseases.
Related: Every Female-Driven DC Movie In Development
King Shark
One of the most memorable characters in Suicide Squad was Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnoye-Agbaje), who seemed to be half-man, half-beast. In the current run of comics, that role in the Squad is often filled by King Shark, and he's exactly what he sounds like: a half-man/half-shark.
Originally a Superboy villain, King Shark has been a mainstay in the Suicide Squad in recent years and he would be an amazing sight to see in the movie sequel. King Shark has also achieved notoriety by appearing on The Flash on The CW, where he terrorizes the heroes because let's face it, he's a terrifying sight... in the water or on land.
Duchess (Lashina)
Lashina was the leader of Darkseid's Female Furies, his elite task force of all-female warriors. In the 1980s Suicide Squad comics, she was betrayed by the other furies and stranded on Earth, where she was recruited by Amanda Waller for Task Force X under the codename Duchess.
In Suicide Squad, Katana (Karen Fukuhara) was the deadly female warrior on the team, but Lashina/Duchess is a New God, with superhuman strength and stamina. As Lashina, her weapons of choice are deadly whips, but she's proficient in all manner of weaponry. Plus, if Lashina joined the Suicide Squad, she would be a tie to the alien beings who invaded the Earth in Justice League, keeping that plot thread alive for a future appearance by Darkseid in the DCEU.
Page 2 of 2: More Potential New Suicide Squad 2 Characters (Including A Hero)
Bronze Tiger
Bronze Tiger is a deadly fighter and, as one of the best martial artists in the DC Universe, he has even bested Batman on occasion. His real name is Benjamin Turner and he was a staple of the Suicide Squad comics of the 1980s. Bronze Tiger has been a featured supervillain on The CW's Arrow where he was played by Michael Jai White, and the antihero has also appeared in the DC Animated Universe. However, Bronze Tiger has never appeared in a live-action film before, and he would be a compelling addition to Suicide Squad 2, not just for his lethal skills, but as alpha male competition for Deadshot and Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) as the head honchos of the team.
Related: The Future Of The DCEU Without Cavill's Superman
Vixen
Vixen, a.k.a. Mari McCabe is actually a superhero and a Justice Leaguer, so it would be fascinating to see someone heroic forced to work with the Suicide Squad for her own reasons. In the 1980s comics, Vixen temporarily joined Task Force X on a mission of revenge, then remained with the Squad for some time. As a warrior powered by the Tantu Totem, a mystical artifact passed down to her as protector of her African nation of Zambesi, Vixen can assume the abilities of any animal.
There are actually two live-action versions of Vixen in the Arrowverse: Megalyn Echikunwoke played Mari McCabe while Maisie Sellers-Williams portrayed Mari's grandmother Amaya Jiwe, who was a member of DC's Legends of Tomorrow. However, Vixen is still awaiting her live-action movie debut and Suicide Squad 2 would be the ideal place to unleash her.
Dr. Light
Doctor Arthur Light is one of the most controversial villains in the DC Universe. Formerly a low-level bad guy, Doctor Light gained lasting infamy in 2004's Identity Crisis storyline where it was revealed he was a serial rapist who violated Sue Dibny, the wife of the Elongated Man. A character with his reputation among DC fans is dark, even for Suicide Squad 2, but Task Force X is meant to be comprised of the worst villains in the DC Universe, so Doctor Light certainly qualifies. He could easily be the main antagonist of the film, the way the Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) was in Suicide Squad.
In terms of his powers, Doctor Light is certainly formidable. A genius-level physicist, he can bend light around him for multiple effects like invisibility, flight, force fields, and emiting blasts of light energy. In The New 52 reboot, Light became a construct of living light energy. Since Doctor Light has never appeared in a live-action film, he'd be the ideal threat for the Worst Heroes Ever to take out in Suicide Squad 2.
