Warning! Contains SPOILERS for The Suicide Squad.
The Suicide Squad brought back Captain Boomerang just to kill him right away — why? Played by Jai Courtney, the notorious thief (real name George "Digger" Harkness) was a member of the original Task Force X that debuted in David Ayer's Suicide Squad in 2016. He's one of the only four characters who were carried over in the new film by director James Gunn — the other three being Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), and Amanda Waller (Viola Davis).
Just like in its predecessor, Waller assembles a team of criminals for a brand new mission. This time, it's to wipe out all traces of Project Starfish. This demanded the team to travel to Corto Maltese where the Nazi-era laboratory called Jötunheim is located. A.R.G.U.S. sends two squads to the island nation; the first one led by Flag was immediately ambushed the moment they reached the shore leaving all of his members dead except him and Harley Quinn. Apparently, Blackguard (Pete Davidson) sold them out. Among those who were mercilessly killed in The Suicide Squad's opening act was Captain Boomerang, who didn't even get a chance to fully showcase his skills.
In contrast, Digger's fellow Ayer-introduced characters were able to move forward and do something more in The Suicide Squad. While Flag was ultimately killed, his death meant something. After discovering the truth about America's involvement in Project Starfish, he wanted to reveal the information and hold everyone involved accountable. But Peacemaker (John Cena), under Waller's orders and convinced that it will disrupt world peace, was motivated to stop — so much so that he was willing to kill his teammate, and so he did. Compare that to Captain Boomerang's demise and it's unclear what the point of bringing him back was, since he dies so quickly and flippantly. The answer may have something to do with Gunn wanting to establish continuity between The Suicide Squad and 2016's movie. The new film isn't exactly a direct sequel to the original, but the fact they share some characters (who have a clear history with one another) is enough to institute a link without addressing the complicated details about it.
Captain Boomerang's involvement in The Suicide Squad was to service other characters and the story more than to develop his arc. At the start of the film, his brief exchange with Harley Quinn establishes their relationship from the get-go as both were involved in the events of Ayer's Suicide Squad. But, more importantly, their chit-chat explains how Harley Quinn is back in prison after getting out as seen in Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). As it turns out, she was busted again for some petty crime, hence why she's under Waller's command again. Ironically, Cathy Yan's female-led 2020 film also featured a subtle cameo from Captain Boomerang, who appeared on a poster as Harley wreaked havoc in prison, after which she made a quip about knowing him.
Boomer's death also adds to the impact of The Suicide Squad's opening slaughter. He's the only character who dies in the scene that audiences really know, and so it has the benefit of giving the sequence a greater sense of weight and shock value. Since there's really not much progress to Captain Boomerang's personal story, there are no loose plot lines left after his death in The Suicide Squad. That said, it still feels somewhat of a waste that he didn't get any solo narrative outside of being a member of Task Force X.
