The Suicide Squad is a reboot but not of the original movie. One of the few characters returning for writer and director James Gunn's version is Rick Flag, played in the film by Joel Kinnaman. Comic book fans know that Rick Flag's history is similarly complicated with reboots, resurrections, and more.

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Rick Flag has been the leader of the group of villains at various points in the Suicide Squad's long history. He has twists and turns in his own story that falls strangely in line with the tendency of the team's many members to die - a lot - but he's one constant in the team's funny, bloody comic book history.

The Brave And The Bold

Rick Flag Sr. from DC Comics

The history of the Suicide Squad, and Rick Flag, goes back to the Silver Age of Comics. The team first appears in a very different form in The Brave and the Bold #25 back in September 1959. The team is a group of soldiers and scientists assembled to fight off a threat called the Red Wave.

Rick Flag Jr. led the team through several adventures that were often sci-fi in nature through the 60s. He eventually sacrificed himself to save the world from the War Wheel, which was revealed much later in comic history.

Rick Flag Jr., Again

Rick Flag reporting to Task Force X in DC Comics

When the concept of the Suicide Squad was revisited in the late 1980s, Rick Flag from the original team was retconned into Rick Flag Sr. His son, Rick Flag Jr., would take over the original 'Suicide Squadron' in the continuity between the original The Brave And The Bold run and the new Suicide Squad introduced in Legends #3 in January 1987 by writer John Ostrander.

Most of the retconned history of the character would be recounted in "The Secret Origin of the Suicide Squad" in Secret Origins #14 in 1987.

The Forgotten Heroes

Rick Flag and Forgotten Heroes from DC Comics

Before his assignment to Task Force X, Flag was part of another unit, the Forgotten Heroes. Similar to the Suicide Squad, they're a collection of generally lower-tier characters. All of them are brought together by the discovery of a mysterious pyramid.

The pyramids turn out to be part of a plot by Vandal Savage, but with the help of the Man of Steel, Superman, they are able to destroy them and save the world. The team debuted in Action Comics #545, in 1983, just a few years before the 1987 revival of the Suicide Squad.

Leading The Suicide Squad

Rick Flag takes command of Sucide Squad in DC Comics

After the death of the Forgotten Heroes leader, The Immortal Man, Flag leaves the team and goes back to the military. From there, Flag is recruited by Amanda Waller, who will become the architect of the entire Suicide Squad program. She assigns Flag to lead a team of villains, all incarcerated like the supervillain Bloodsport, to fight against a monster called Brimstone.

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Brimstone was sent to Earth by the evil ruler of Apokalips, Darkseid to essentially make humanity lose faith in its superheroes. Though Brimstone was a very powerful villain, the Suicide Squad was able to defeat him.

Mental Instability

Rick Flag points gun at person in DC Comics

A tragic and defining feature of Rick Flag during this era in the comics was his mental health. He was prone to violent outbursts that were mostly attributed to PTSD from previous missions in the military. One particular mission left him distraught.

The first Suicide Squad that Flag Jr. led included his girlfriend Karin Grace, Dr. Hugh Evans, and Jess Bright. An incident with a Yeti in Cambodia left Evans dead and Bright captured to eventually be a tool of the Soviet Union in a way that is somewhat reminiscent of Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier.

Keeping Secrets

Rick Flag Confronts Senator Cray in DC Comics

Being a covert team doing extrajudicial actions on behalf of the government, the Suicide Squad found themselves in a lot of tricky situations. One of them involved Flag trying to kill a United States Senator who was about to reveal the existence of the team to the public.

Driven by his mental instability and the death of his girlfriend, Flag didn't realize that Senator Cray had already stood down from his threat. The Suicide Squad intervenes, but team member Deadshot (played by Will Smith in the first movie) ends up killing Cray accidentally, and the truth comes out anyway.

Death

Death of Rick Flag in DC Comics

Death is a defining feature for the Suicide Squad and death came for Rick Flag Jr. when he took on The Onslaught, an international terrorist organization and one of the team's earliest enemies. He invades The Onslaught's secret stronghold to deactivate a nuclear bomb the Nazis had secretly developed in World War II.

Flag is killed when the bomb goes off, destroying the entire complex and seemingly killing all of The Onslaught members as well. It wouldn't be the end for Flag, though.

Battle For Eternity

Bronze Tiger from DC Comics

Rick Flag and the leader of The Onslaught, Rustam, actually both survived the blast. Thanks to the supernatural quality of Rustam's sword, they were transported to another dimension called Skartaris, which is the home of the Warlord, a sword and sorcery character, not unlike the sometimes very OP Conan The Barbarian, who first appeared in 1975.

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Flag fought his way back to the regular world but emerged in the middle of a prison. He stayed there until he was freed by Amanda Waller and Bronze Tiger, who infiltrates the prison.

Raise The Flag

Rustam confronts Rick Flag in DC Comics

After Flag's release, his long comic book history gets another major retcon. In the "Raise The Flag" storyline from 2007, it's revealed that Flag isn't even Rick Flag Jr. but a soldier named Anthony Miller. Miller had been brainwashed by General Eiling, also known as The Shaggy Man.

Miller eventually discovers the truth and is able to circumvent the use of trigger words by Eiling. He prevents Eiling from destroying the Suicide Squad from within. After that, he decides to live his life as Rick Flag.

Fighting Batman

Rick Flag fights Batman in DC Comics

One of the Suicide Squad's biggest tests came early in their history when Batman discovered the existence of the program. He infiltrated their base at the Belle Reve prison and was in the process of leaving with evidence that would prove the existence of Task Force X when Flag intercepted him.

The two also butted heads on a later mission when the Suicide Squad and Justice League International showed up at the same Russian prison to stop the supervillain Nemesis. Batman won that fight, fairly handly.

NEXT: 10 Most Shocking Deaths In DC Comics