As the worst of the worst take on a new villain in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, the Thinker may be the key to victory. Starro, an intergalactic starfish who can control the minds of humans, makes a big entrance in the first trailer for The Suicide Squad. As fans of the DC comics know, the Thinker also has a range of telepathic abilities, which could give him an edge in the fight against Starro. The giant kaiju-like creature is overwhelmingly dominant when it comes to physical force, so perhaps a more subtle approach is needed to defeat the alien.
The Suicide Squad franchise was first kicked off in 2016 with a David Ayer-directed movie that was plagued by production issues. Gunn's relaunch introduces many new team members for Task Force X, including the Thinker (Peter Capaldi), a superintelligent metahuman. The Thinker, who first appeared in the comics as Clifford DeVoe, enhances his genius with the thinking cap. The cap also allows him to project mental force, giving him telekinetic and telepathic abilities. The Thinker can read minds, control the minds of others, move objects with his mind, and may also be able to manipulate electricity.
A new poster for The Suicide Squad hints at a possible connection between Task Force X's Thinker and the villain Starro, showing miniature versions of the alien. One possibility is that the Thinker is working with Starro in some way, having set him free or helped him gain telepathic control over the populace. Another possibility is that the Thinker's abilities are essential to defeating the extraterrestrial. In The Suicide Squad trailer, members of the team are seen threatening the Thinker in order to gain his cooperation. The Thinker is clearly an outsider to the team, but his abilities are valuable enough that they are willing to risk betrayal. Even if the Thinker has some sort of master plan, it's likely his powers will be put to use by the team to fight Starro.
In DC comics, Starro the Conquerer is a starfish-like alien who plans to take over Earth. The gigantic starfish is an incredibly powerful threat alone, able to telepathically influence people, but it can also produce millions of smaller spores that latch onto hosts and control their minds. Starro is a particular threat to Task Force X in The Suicide Squad given the position of the action on an island. Earth starfish in the surrounding ocean could be used by Starro as spores or duplicates. In addition to Starro's telepathic abilities, it can heal itself, fly, change size at will and absorb and redirect energy. The latter power allows Starro to deflect attacks from conventional weapons like guns and missiles and lash out with energy beams.
Starro's physical invulnerability means direct attacks are unlikely to succeed, regardless of how much firepower the suicide squad has. Starro's mental powers are also formidable — except against the Thinker. Equipped with the thinking cap, the Thinker is likely invulnerable to Starro's manipulations. The Thinker could also use his own telepathic abilities to deflect energy attacks by Starro or gain control over Starro's spores and, by extension, their hosts. When it comes to telepathy, the possibilities are endless. The Suicide Squad could see the Thinker controlling his own army or using telekinesis to launch massive physical attacks against Starro. In DC comics, the threat Starro posed was so great that it brought the members of the Justice League together. Faced with a giant starfish, perhaps members of the suicide squad will also see past their differences.
