The Thinker in The Suicide Squad will be a different character than the one Barry Allen faced on the CW series The Flash, according to director James Gunn. Peter Capaldi has been cast as the Thinker in the upcoming film, where he's captured by Task Force X. The Thinker is a powerful supervillain whose powers include mind control and telekinesis which make him both a vital asset and a dangerous risk.
While the alias of the Thinker has been used by a few different characters in the pages of DC comics, the most well-known is Clifford DeVoe, who first appeared in 1943 and has been a recurring enemy of various incarnations of the Flash ever since. He was the primary big bad for season 4 of The Flash television series where he was played by Neil Sandilands. When Peter Capaldi was first confirmed to play the Thinker at DC FanDome in August of 2020, many fans assumed he would be that version of the character.
James Gunn has now clarified that the Thinker in The Suicide Squad is not Clifford DeVoe. When a fan asked if there might be a tease to DeVoe's history with the Flash, given the Flash exists in the DCEU (played by Ezra Miller), Gunn quickly confirmed that this is a different Thinker. Gunn did not confirm the civilian identity of this Thinker.
There are other incarnations of the character Gunn could be drawing from. The second Thinker was Cliff Carmichael, who was a frequent foe of the hero Firestorm. Carmichael's Thinker was featured in John Ostrander's run on Suicide Squad and, given how Gunn has cited that comic as his inspiration for the film, it could point to this Thinker being that version. The appearance of Capaldi's Thinker is inspired by his appearance in The New 52 relaunch, where he was left unidentified. This leaves the door open for Gunn to combine elements of the two versions of the character.
The Thinker could also be an entirely new character created for the film, with a possible tie to a previous DC character. This would be similar to Ratcatcher 2, a new character created specifically for The Suicide Squad, who is the daughter of the original Ratcatcher, a character from DC Comics. The Thinker's character poster highlighted him surrounded by Starro drones, hinting he may have a connection to the villain. This could indicate he gets his powers from Starro, he could be the key the team needs to beat Starro, or he could be working with the alien conqueror. Given that the trailer shows him being interrogated by the team and seemingly not being present in the scene with Starro's awakening, there's some evidence that points toward the team killing him for double-crossing them. For now, the Thinker's fate, much like his identity, remains a mystery.
Source: James Gunn/Twitter
