Warning: This article contains major spoilers for The Suicide Squad and contains references to graphic violence.
One of the things that makes The Suicide Squad comics so much fun is that anyone could die at any time in the books. That was a problem with the first movie, where only one person died trying to escape and that was it until the end when someone sacrificed themselves to take out the bad guy. That isn't what The Suicide Squad is all about.
The new movie has been a critical success, sitting at 91 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and topping the box office, and a large part of that was the movie respecting the source material while remaining unpredictable. James Gunn wanted to bring back the theme from the comics where obscure villains join up and almost all of them die. Gunn also shook things up by killing several people off. However, there were a few that many fans never saw coming.
The Thinker
When The Suicide Squad hunted down Peter Capaldi's The Thinker, he was a man who was working on a top-secret project in a foreign country. However, while he was a bad person, he was someone who worked for the United States and carried out the missions they ordered him to do with Starro.
Anyone coming into the movie figured he would die. However, when explosives freed Starro from its containment after several years imprisoned, it was the alien starfish that killed The Thinker. Although seeing the alien rip Thinker in half was shocking, many viewers thought it was more fitting than seeing a member of the Suicide Squad put a bullet in him since he had tortured Starro for years.
Savant
When the audience sat down to watch The Suicide Squad, the movie took them on a thrill ride that ended up in a shocking and bloody disaster. The movie opened with Michael Rooker's Savant joining Task Force X and meeting Rick Flag, Harley Quinn, and others as they headed out on a mission.
However, the mission went wrong. The beach assault ended up turning into a bloody massacre, with only Flag and Harley surviving. But what was completely surprising was when Savant tried to run for his life and Amanda Waller murdered him for deserting the mission. Considering that the first five minutes focused heavily on Savant's skills, fans believed he was going to be an asset to the team. Instead, the government officially ended his life, using him as a diversion.
Weasel - Retconned At The End
It is always shocking to see the first hero die in a movie. In the case of The Suicide Squad, it was shocking to see the first villain die. Weasel was an obscure DC Comics bad guy in The Suicide Squad, and the giant rodent creature killed over 20 kids to earn his prison sentence. He was also the first to "die" when Task Force X dropped into position.
What was surprising about his death wasn't that he died on the first mission. It was the fact that he died before they ever faced the enemies. The trailers implied that the creature would be heavily involved in the movie, so it came as a great disappointment that he got about ten minutes of screentime (although it's possible he could return in another movie since a post-credit scene showed that he was alive).
Polka-Dot Man
By the time all the minor villains died, there were just a few select members of The Suicide Squad left. One of these was Polka-Dot Man, who became one of The Suicide Squad's funniest characters after his dry comments provided several moments of comic relief. However, it wasn't long before he became a casualty.
Although viewers were happy to see that his excitement at becoming a "superhero," they were shocked and devastated when Polka-Dot Man was squashed under Starro's leg. It just showed that even characters who found redemption can die suddenly.
Silvio Luna
Silvio Luna was the new dictator of the country The Suicide Squad was sent into. However, the Squad's mission had nothing to do with the ruler or the upcoming coup that was rising due to his harsh regime. It was only to destroy Project Starfish and come back home.
After Silvio captured Harley Quinn, he invited her to his house, where they shortly became a couple. However, he was soon killed by Harley after she heard of the heinous crimes he committed. While fans knew that he was going to die at some point, they thought it would have been in the last couple of minutes rather than halfway through, which was why it was so surprising. As he died, there were a few questions of where the narrative would go now.
Peacemaker - Retconned At The End
The most surprising death in The Suicide Squad came when Peacemaker "died." The entire mission was going as planned until Rick Flag learned that Amanda Waller was covering up unspeakable horrors that the United States committed, including murdering and torturing children.
After Ratcatcher 2 grabbed the disc of evidence and ran, Peacemaker had to chase after her. Bloodsport saved Ratcatcher 2 by shooting Peacemaker in the throat and taking the evidence to use for himself. The reason this moment was so shocking was because Peacemaker is set to have a HBO Max streaming series coming, so this scene made viewers believe that it could be a prequel. However, with Peacemaker alive in the post-credits scene, the plot of the show is still up in the air.
Captain Boomerang
On the first mission, there were three members of the original Suicide Squad from the first movie. There was team leader Rick Flag, Harley Quinn, and Boomerang. The three were the most recognizable faces in the movie for DC fans. However, that didn't matter to director James Gunn, who was given permission to kill anyone.
In the first battle scene of the entire movie, the fan-favorite character, Captain Boomerang, was one of the first to die after a massive explosion. This was surprising as Captain Boomerang had been an integral part of the Squad in the first movie and helped them defeat Enchantress. He also provided much comic relief too, so his absence was significantly felt throughout the film.
Rick Flag
Rick Flag learned what the United States had been doing and planned to expose them. What he didn't know was that Waller told Peacemaker everything and he was there to stop Flag. When the two fought, the Peacemaker murdered him to keep him from revealing the truth to the nation.
From a character standpoint, Rick's death was easily the most surprising in The Suicide Squad because he was the team leader and was the only member of the team who was not a villain, working as Amanda Waller's right hand. As Flag was also the first Suicide Squad member in comic book history, fans believed he would have been safe. Therefore, when Peacemaker killed him, the viewers were devastated and heartbroken.