We are now mere weeks away from the next installment in the DC Expanded Universe, and to say that Suicide Squad is one of the most anticipated films of the year would be a huge understatement. Directed by David Ayer, the film will bring DC's villainous rogues gallery to the big screen for the very first time.

Not a lot is known about the film, or it's cavalcade of characters. With that in mind, we thought we would dive in and dig up some facts about one of the most mysterious characters in the bunch, Enchantress. The character has a long history in the DC comic book universe, although Cara Delevingne's portrayal will be the first time that we get to see her grace the big screen. It should be an interesting ride.

Here are Screen Rant's 15 Things You Need To Know About Enchantress:

15. She Has A Terrible Nickname

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Most comic book heroes and some villains have really cool nicknames. Things like the Man Of Steel, the Caped Crusader and the Sorcerer Supreme come to mind. Unfortunately, the Enchantress wasn’t so lucky in this department. In fact, in her first introduction to the world, her nickname was plastered on the front of the comic book for all the see; The Switcheroo-Witcheroo.

Where the name came from is sort of unknown, but you’ve got to remember that this was at a time where the creators nicknamed characters all sorts of interesting and strange things. Enchantress seemed to get the short end of the stick on that one, although later on she was also known as the Charming Charmer, which is much better. And, hey, it can always be worse. Poor Robin got stuck with The Boy Wonder and a terrible costume for years. It’s hard to live that kind of shame down.

14. She's Been Around For 50 Years

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The character was created by writer Bob Haney and artist Howard Purcell for the National Comics (which is now DC Comics) science fiction anthology, Strange Adventures #187 (April 1966). She showed up again in Strange Adventures #191 and #200 before kind of going on hiatus. It wouldn’t be until 1980 when she appeared again, this time as at adversary to Supergirl in The Superman Family #204 - 205 (November/December 1980 - January/February 1981). She made a handful of appearance throughout the 1980s, although none of them were as impactful as her appearance in the Legends miniseries in 1987.

The legends miniseries, created by John Ostrander, introduced the Suicide Squad into DC Comics canon. Although there had been a previous incarnation of the squad in 1959, this new version was the version that most fans are familiar with, the one that involves Amanda Waller rounding up DC villains and sending them out on suicide missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences. Although Enchantress played a small part in the series and its subsequent releases, this is the group that she is most often affiliated with.

13. She Has A Convoluted And Confusing History

Suicide Squad Full Team Cast Photo

Comic book characters are altered all of the time. Depending on the writer and what needs to be accomplished in any new story arc, character’s pasts, powers and even origins are often altered to make a particular element work. It’s how comic book characters end up with all kinds of powers they never had before.

Enchantress is no different. Although she has only made approximately 197 appearances over the course of her 50 year existence, it hasn’t stopped her from being altered in dramatic fashion. While her origin story has remained relatively intact since the beginning, what she is and how the Enchantress persona has been portrayed has been changed time and again. Over the years, she’s been a villain, a hero and finally an anti-hero who may or may not do the right thing. While the current consensus is that she is a demonic entity that has bonded with June Moone, and is an anti-hero who could snap at any moment, it probably won’t last. She’s one of the characters that writers find easy to manipulate, and they bring her in so that they can mold her to whatever story they’re trying to tell.

12. She’s Actually Two Different People

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While Enchantress may be her supervillain name, the character is actually two different people. Her alter-ego is the blonde-haired, freelance artist, June Moone. Like many other super powered comic book folks, mild mannered June was somewhere where she wasn’t supposed to be when she was possessed by the demonic entity known as the Enchantress. The raven-haired, green eyed, sorceress comes to the forefront when June speaks the word ‘Enchantress.’

The two sides are often at war with one another, as the Enchantress persona wants to be free. This isn’t surprising, given that she was trapped for a long time before June stumbled upon her. Initially, June was only able to use her magical powers when she was in the Enchantress form, although more recently, she has been shown to be able to tap into them in either form. Honestly though, her origin and abilities and the like have been changed so many times over the years, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what, or better yet which version, she is at any given time.

11. She Is Very Powerful

Cara Delevingne as Enchantress in Suicide Squad

Enchantress is actually one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe. When she’s in her Enchantress form, she is a powerful sorceress with the ability to wield all sorts of magic. Her powers include teleportation, the ability to control fire and other elements, the ability to cast illusions, super fast healing, the ability to quickly heal others, the ability to create and manipulate all forms of energy, intangibility and the ability to fly.

On top of that, the energy that she creates can directly affect non-living objects (it doesn’t work so well on those that are living). She is also in possession of the Herne-Ramsgate Cauldron, a magical object that once belonged to Nightwitch. The cauldron gives the owner the ability to locate any magical object or being in the vast DC Universe. Basically, it’s a GPS tracking device for anything that has a trace of magical energy. Pretty handy, don’t you think?

10. The Enchantress Persona Is An Evil Entity From Another Dimension

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Although she is often referred to as a witch, The Enchantress is in actual fact an entity from another dimension. When she was first introduced, she manifested as what looked like another personality to June Moone. It seemed as if this was what she was; an alternate personality from June, brought to the surface by coming into contact with the Enchantress entity.

For many years, this seemed to be the consensus, at least until Geoff Johns decided to use her for his Day Of Judgement limited series. In order to reignite the fires of Hell, a sacrifice is required and Enchantress happened to be the one that gave up her life for the greater good. Not that she volunteered for it or anything, because she didn’t. In this story arc, though, it was only the Enchantress persona that was killed, not June Moone. While June wasn’t left unscathed (more on that next) this was the first time that the two were considered as truly separate entities.

9. The Two Halves No Longer Seem To Be Able To Function Separately

Suicide Squad Trailer Enchantress

Well, the June half of the character, anyway. The Enchantress portion doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. There have been a couple of instances where the two have been separated, with rather disastrous results for one of them.

During her Suicide Squad run, the Enchantress persona was ripped from June’s body by the demon Incubus. Although it was what June wanted, once it was done, she was miserable without her other half. She disappeared soon after and wasn’t seen again for eleven years. The two portions were then reunited, this time without the evil magic parts of the Enchantress persona, and things were good. That is, until the Day Of Judgement story line previously mentioned. The difference this time, however, is that when the Enchantress persona is removed from June, she is killed. This sends June into a semi-catatonic state, showing that she is unable to function without her other half. She is only revived when the two halves are once again reunited.

8. She Is No Longer Purely Evil In The Comics

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When June and Enchantress are reunited after the Day Of Judgement story line (turns out, Enchantress wasn’t actually killed, and spent the time apart from June in the guise of Anita Soulfeeda, a succubus working for a group of demons looking to resurrect a mad sorcerer looking to take over the world. No one ever said that comic books aren’t just paper and ink versions of soap operas!), the bonding creates a new entity called Soulsinger.

Soulsinger was only temporary, and when she faded, she left behind the Enchantress persona, minus all the evil bits. There is one caveat, however. If she is exposed to too much magic, Enchantress will lose herself to it and once again become evil. Shockingly enough, this happens soon after the two halves are reunited, but knocking her unconscious seems to do the trick of fixing her, and when she wakes up, she is once again the not so evil entity. Ultimately, while she’s not a true hero, most would classify her as a pretty typical anti-hero.

7. Cara Delevingne Got Naked To Get Into Character

Cara Delevingne in Paper Towns

A lot has been made about the way that some of the members of the Suicide Squad motivated themselves to get into character. While Jared Leto, who is known for his method approach, basically went bat-crap crazy to get the feel of his Joker. Delevingne took a slightly different, albeit still rather bizarre approach to getting into the head of Enchantress.

At the suggestion of director David Ayer, Cara stripped naked and wandered through the woods near her home in England. The idea was to feel her feet in the mud and howl at the moon. The actress says that there wasn’t a full moon the night that she did it, but she did howl anyway. The idea was probably for her to get a feel for nature and the elements around her, and we’re sure she accomplished that, even if it sort of sounds crazy and a little out there. Whatever you need to do to make it work, we guess?

6. She Is Founding Member Of The Shadowpact Super Team

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When the confused, but apparently well-meaning Spectre, decided to rid the world of all magic and magical beings, Enchantress, along with Ragman and Detective Chimp (Which is just what it sounds like it would be; an intelligent, sentient chimpanzee - we swear, we’re not making this stuff up!) decided to form a team of mystical and magical superbeings to defeat him. They were later joined by Nightshade, Blue Devil and Nightmaster.

They made their first appearance in the Day Of Vengeance limited series in 2005, before spinning off into their own self-titled series that lasted for 25 issues. The team made their headquarters in the Oblivion Bar, which was located in a magical dimension that was only accessible to those with mystical abilities. They also had their own team of super-villain adversaries, called The Pentacle. Their evil counterparts were evenly matched magical beings, although the good guys managed to defeat them eventually.

5. She Was The Main Adversary Of The New 52 Justice League Dark Series

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The Flashpoint story arc of DC comics threw the entire universe into chaos. Once the dust settled, and the New 52 began brand new story arcs for all of their characters, not everyone came out unscathed. Enchantress was one of those characters.

She became the main adversary of the new Justice League Dark series. When it began, the June Moon and the Enchantress personas were separated, with the June part mentally unstable and wandering around reciting nursery rhymes, and the Enchantress portion wreaking havoc on the world in an attempt to get the June part of her back. John Constantine manages to corner June, and soon realizes that she isn’t reciting rhymes, but a broken spell. Although she doesn’t want to be reunited with the Enchantress persona, Constantine utters the full incantation and merges the two entities together, restoring their balance once again. This newly healed Enchantress is sent to a place to heal. This was the last time she was seen.

4. She Would Have Been A Member Of Power Squad

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Back in the '80s, writer Jack C. Harris and artist Trevor Von Eeden, proposed that DC take its two popular female heroes and create a new all-female superhero team. At the time, Harris was the go to guy for DC superheroines, writing Isis, Batgirl, Supergirl, Wonder Woman and editing Starfire.

The idea was to do a take on World’s Finest, using Superman and Batman’s female counterparts. Batgirl and Supergirl would have been joined by Vixen and Enchantress. Harris had used the sorceress as the main foil for his Supergirl and knew that she was often portrayed as an anti-hero rather than a straight villain. The team would have been comprised partly of scientific smarts and partly of magic, making them a formidable foe to any threat that arose. Unfortunately, DC passed on the idea and it would be about 20 years before an all-female team hit the stands with Birds Of Prey.

3. The Character Reveal For The Film Caused Some Controversy

Suicide Squad - Enchantress magazine cover

Not a lot was known about the majority of the characters in the film, but most especially Enchantress, who we only saw briefly, in her June Moone form, in the initial footage from last year’s Comic-Con. That all changed last fall when Empire did a spread about the film and the characters, highlighting them with magazine covers that showcased a number of the characters. While most of the reveals were received rather positively, there was a bit of backlash when it came to the reveal of Enchantress.

Unlike her comic book counterpart, this version of Enchantress was shown wearing a skimpy, metal bikini beneath dark and dirty makeup. In the comics, the character usually wears a two piece outfit that consists of a crop top and pants. There were some people that thought the outfit that was chosen for the film was inappropriate and done for no other reason than shock value and to get a model in as little clothing as possible. Whether this is the final look for the character in the film remains to be seen, but it might be kind of difficult to save the world when you’re worrying about making sure everything is properly covered.

2. She Was Once Killed By Kal-El

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Like most DC characters (and comic book characters, in general), Enchantress has a long and convoluted past. Storylines like Crisis On Infinite Earths have a tendency to alter everyone’s history, sometimes to such an extent that their origins are completely different moving forward. This is especially true when different writers bring established characters into new story arcs and change things to make it work with what’s presently going on in the universe.

This happened to Enchantress during the Flashpoint event. She was part of an alternate timeline that saw her as a member of the Secret Seven, an alternate version of the villainous Secret Six team. Apparently, in this timeline, numbers mean nothing. It is also revealed that she is actually a spy for the evil Amazonian’s led by Wonder Woman. As the battle raged and the climax approached, a newly released from prison, Kal-El, arrives and lands on Enchantress, crushing her beneath him. Not a very pretty way to go, but many would consider it justice. It all became moot, however, when Barry Allen realized his mistakes and reset the timeline, leading to the creation of the New 52.

1. The Character In The Film Is Going To Be Very Dark

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While not a whole lot is known about the overall plot of the upcoming Suicide Squad, one thing for certain is that the film will continue the dark tone that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice brought to the universe. This isn’t all that surprising, given that the film is basically going to unleash the big bads of this universe onto the unsuspecting public. The source material is dark and there’s no doubt that David Ayer is going to play on that aspect of the film.

Delevingne has said that one of the things that interested her about the role was how awesome Enchantress was. That and the fact that the character is going to ‘kill people with [her] bare hands.’ It’s not surprising hearing that from the model-turned-actress, as she also claims to have been obsessed with blood and death when she was a child. Looks like the WB found the perfect girl to play the dark, mysterious and rather evil Switcheroo-Witcheroo. It’s unlikely that nickname will stick once audiences get a load of the character on the big screen. No doubt she's going to be positively frightening.

Conclusion

Suicide Squad Posters - Enchantress

So, those are the facts that we could dig up on Enchantress. For a character that has been around for such a long time, there isn't a whole lot of information out there about her. Did we miss anything? What do you find most interesting about her? What are you hoping to see from her in Suicide Squad? Let us know in the comments!