Who is Blackguard? Pete Davidson's Suicide Squad Character Explained

Warning: SPOILERS for The Suicide Squad.

The Suicide Squad contains a colorful array of characters adapted from DC's comics, including Pete Davidson's Blackguard. Though he is by no means the biggest character in the movie, Blackguard does play an important role in the film, and also establishes the tone of James Gunn's work from an early point onwards. But who is Blackguard, and how different is he from his comic counterpart?

Blackguard's first appearance was within in the pages of Booster Gold in 1986, serving as a member of the time-traveling superhero's collection of rogues. While Richard Hertz was a small-time thug, he was hired by the organization known as the 1,000 for several different jobs and operations on their behalf. While he's generally been classified as not being the brightest bulb in the room, he was given an increased amount of intelligence by the demon lord Neron, who granted him seemingly average brains as a result. Blackguard wears a suit of heavy-duty armor, which he presumedly received from the 1,000. He also wields an energy shield and mace. Years later, Blackguard was enlisted by Amanda Waller to join a heavy-duty Suicide Squad, alongside characters such as Marauder, The General, and White Dragon. However, this particular team wasn't so loyal, betraying the others which ultimately led to the General beheading Blackguard by ripping his head off midway through their offensive, thus ending Blackguard's short tenure in the DC Universe.

In this vein, Davidson's Blackguard is very similar, as early into The Suicide Squad he reveals he has been collaborating with the Corto Maltese government, only to be promptly shot dead by their army in gruesome fashion after warning them that the group had arrived. This would lead to a swift chain reaction of murders that would take out the majority of Task Force X in one fell swoop. However, this death is somewhat less sympathetic than the demise of his comic self, as the DCEU Blackguard dies as a result of his own betrayal of the team, not the other way around.

Blackguard bending his neck in The Suicide Squad

Indeed, the real shame of The Suicide Squad's Blackguard dying so soon into the film is that viewers are left with relatively little in terms of information about this version of the character. Blackguard's black leather suit may suggest that he has also worked with The 1,000 and thus potentially also received enhanced intelligence from Neron - but given that this is never so much as alluded to, there's also a good chance he is a relatively normal criminal in this imagining. The fact that Davidson's Blackguard has guns on his suit supports this idea, as it's a far cry from the mace and physical weaponry that the comic Blackguard leans towards.

Though it would have been fun to see Pete Davidson get to break out his acting in a supervillain role a little more, his DCEU reimagining of the character is still a decidedly entertaining one, even if he's only seen in a relatively small amount of time. He's also yet another example of how The Suicide Squad did an admirable job adapting somewhat obscure comic characters in its roster

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