James Gunn’s Suicide Squad has revealed it’s a star-packed cast of villains. Michael Rooker will play Savant, a villain that has some strong connections to the Bat-Family. The cast of Suicide Squad 2 was shown during DC Comic’s DC FanDome, a 2- Day replacement for the missed San Diego Comic-Con.
Day 1 of the DC FanDome took place on August 22nd and focused on releases such as Gotham Knights, a follow-up to the beloved Arkham Knight. The second day, which will happen on September 12th, will have even more content for DC Comics. As part of a packed schedule full of announcements, DC Comics fans got a first look at James Gunn’s Suicide Squad, who is known for the popular Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Cinematic Films. Suicide Squad 2 will have the return of Viola Davis, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, and Jai Courtney, but introduce a lot of new faces, such as Idris Elba, Nathon Fillion, and Michael Rooker who will play Savant.
Savant was a villain introduced in Birds of Prey #56, created by Gail Simone and Ed Benes. Savant, who is known as Brian Durlin, tried to become a hero in Gotham City before his turn to villain. Batman put a stop to Savant’s beginning to vigilantism, and from which he became a villain to the Birds of Prey. Savant would be involved with a kidnapping of Black Canary, and go toe to toe with Oracle. Later on in Birds of Prey, Savant would be influenced by Oracle to heroism and be on the Birds of Prey payroll. Savant took a leave of absence from the Birds after being tortured as a plot to learn the secret identity of Oracle. Savant would return in a continuation of Birds of Prey, where he would assist Oracle.
With the recent formation of the DCEU’s own Birds of Prey and Margot Robbie returning as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad 2, could Savant interact with the Birds of Prey? Or could this be a way to connect the Bat-Family into Suicide Squad? Barbara Gordon in her early career as Oracle assisted the Suicide Squad, which could be another way to connect Savant to the Birds of Prey. Oracle was not seen in the recent Birds of Prey movie, so by referencing Oracle could pay the perfect homage to Barbara Gordon, and open the door to the bats of Gotham City.
With a packed cast full of interesting villains, Suicide Squad has a chance to make many references to the larger DC universe. Suicide Squad 2 is set to hit theaters in 2021 on August 6th.