Despite the departure of many of the members of the original team, some familiar faces will return in The Suicide Squad. James Gunn's upcoming 2021 film is his "reinvention" of the team of anti-heroes after the first incarnation with 2016's Suicide Squadfrom director David Ayer. It will feature a swarm of new characters from all around the pages of DC comics played by numerous big names like Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi, WWE legend John Cena, Firefly actor Nathan Fillion, and Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi.

The first Suicide Squad had a very mixed reception, with most criticisms aimed at its choppy editing and drastic tonal shifts resulting from significant late-in-production reshoots to make it more in-line with some of the movie's poppy trailers. This, plus the shake-ups to the original DCEU plans, the divergence from Jared Leto's version of the Joker, and the exit of several key figures like original Justice League director Zack Snyder and Batman actor/director Ben Affleck, pushed Warner Bros. take a less strict approach to DCEU canon, allowing The Suicide Squad to break away from the first movie and take another shot at the title while keeping its strongest elements, including a handful of stand-out characters.

Related: Everything The Suicide Squad Needs To Change About The Original

James Gunn revealed the cast of The Suicide Squad on social media back in September 2019 with a list of the actors and a warning not to get too attached to them, though not all of them have been linked to a confirmed character in the film. While it's not completely certain how they will handle a rearrangement of the squad in-story, some members of the original team are confirmed to make an anti-heroic comeback due to their positive reception in the first installment. Here's a rundown of the Suicide Squad characters returning for the sequel.

Harley Quinn

Needless to say, the beloved Maiden of Mischief will be back as the face of the team after a crowd-pleasing appearance in Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey. Ever since her debut in the first Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie's outstanding portrayal of Harley Quinn has been regarded as one of the strongest aspects of the entire DCEU - and even as one of the most faithful cinematic adaptations of a comic book character. Her wicked sense of humor and her unfiltered joy steals the spotlight in every scene she's in, hence her imminent return to the sequel.

Harley Quinn is first introduced as an inmate in Suicide Squad, locked in a literal cage after being captured by Batman in a car chase where the Joker escapes. She then joins the titular team in order to fight Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) and her brother Incubus (Alan Chanoine) in order to get her freedom back but is only given ten years off her sentence and an espresso machine for her cell. As is typical for the clown couple, Joker comes to her rescue and they flee from the prison. In the 2020 team-up film Birds of Prey, Harley has broken up with the Joker and joins an all-female gang of anti-heroes with the goal of protecting the young Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) and herself from Gotham's criminals. After brutally defeating Black Mask (Ewan McGregor), she drives away with her hyena Bruce and Cassie.

One of the first details to come out about the production of The Suicide Squad was the involvement of Margot Robbie as the main returning lead. It's safe to say that her role in the sequel will have a big impact on the future of the Suicide Squad title and the DCEU as a whole, besides expanding her character beyond her already well-known backstory and relationship with the Joker.

Related: Why Harley Quinn Is Better Off Without The Joker

Captain Boomerang

Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad 2016

Before the first Suicide Squad came out, Jai Courtney's casting as Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang awakened some doubts among the fans. Courtney's previous record of lukewarm performances of major characters in movies like 2015's Terminator Genysis - where he played a young version of Kyle Reese, and A Good Day to Die Hard - as John McClane's son, made him an objectionable choice for an adaptation of comic book character. However, his portrayal of the erratic Flash villain in Suicide Squad was so delightfully fun that the audience immediately became attached to him and his charming backstabbing tendencies.

Captain Boomerang is first introduced as a criminal with multiple counts of robbery and burglary to his name. He ends up joining the squad after being captured by the Flash (Ezra Miller) while trying to betray his accomplices in the middle of a diamond heist. Always caring little about anyone other than himself, he tricks Slipknot (Adam Beach) into getting his neck bomb detonated to confirm that they're really forced to avoid any escape attempt. By the end of the movie, he has acquired a slightly increased sense of comradery and has resumed his reduced sentence in Belle Reve prison.

Birds of Prey threw a brief reference to Boomerang's current whereabouts when Harley Quinn comes across a wanted poster with his picture on it and stops to point out that she knows him. Clearly, the villain found a way to break out of jail and earn the attention of the authorities once again, prompting his appearance in The Suicide Squad. Actor Jai Courtney teased his return as Captain Boomerang the same month that the film started production, but the scope of his role in the sequel is still as uncertain as with many of his fellow 23 cast members.

Amanda Waller

Amanda Waller Pentagon Suicide Squad

In 2016's Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) stood out as the most powerful character in the film. Without a single superpower or metahuman ability, she was able to control every member of the squad with the push of a button. Her determination and manipulation skills let her execute her initiative to gather the most dangerous team of anti-heroes as an emergency defense against otherwordly threats. Although it's precisely this plan that goes awry and puts the fate of the Earth in jeopardy, Waller still ends up as a figure of great influence to metahumans at the end of the movie.

Related: Birds of Prey: Why Didn't Suicide Squad's ARGUS Attempt To Get Harley Quinn Back

Following Margot Robbie and Jai Courtney, the third cast member to be confirmed for a return in The Suicide Squad was Viola Davis. Her reprisal of the character makes the most sense since the role of Amanda Waller is - as many fans like to compare it - the equivalent to Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in The AvengersThey both come up with the unpopular plan to assemble a squad of unpredictable heroes, but one that will put their past and their differences aside to fight bigger threats at all costs.

Rick Flag

Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag in Suicide Squad

Portrayed by the 2014 Robocop remake star Joel Kinnaman, Rick Flag lead the team on the field in Suicide Squad. His motivation to help the team succeed in their fight against Enchantress is to recover the mystical creature's alter ego, Dr. June Moon, whom he loves. Manipulated by Amanda Waller, Colonel Flag starts the mission as a tough but apprehensive soldier, undaunted by the decision to detonate Slipknot's bomb on his first attempt to escape. It's not until Waller's apparent death and Enchantress's loss of control that Flag opens up to the squad and joins them with full intent to help them complete the mission and come out unscathed. The team fights Incubus and Enchantress until it's up to Flag to crush her heart and finally get Moon back.

In May 2019, Kinnaman confirmed his return as Rick Flag for The Suicide Squad with an Instagram photo in which he teased his training for the movie, making him the fourth and final cast member from Suicide Squad to confirm a comeback for the sequel. With June Moon alive and well after the events of the previous film (and Cara Delevingne's notable absence from James Gunn's cast list), his motivation to be part of the unstable team of criminals becomes a very intriguing question, although as a member of Argus under Amanda Waller, he's probably just following orders.

The Suicide Squad wrapped up filming at the end of February this year and will undoubtedly bring plenty of surprises to the fans of the first film. A Joker cameo in the style of Birds of Prey or even a brief appearance by a Justice League hero are not completely off the table, but the return of Suicide Squad characters like El Diablo (Jay Hernandez) and Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) is, unfortunately, less likely. The positive side to their exit from the team is the opportunity to let new characters like King Shark (Steve Agee) and Polka Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) to join Task Force X.

Related: Birds of Prey Proves James Gunn's Suicide Squad is DEFINITELY a Sequel

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