James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad has proven to be the most over-the-top entry in the DC Extended Universe yet. The movie, featuring Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Rick Flag, among others, carries the backdrop of the violent Corto Maltese where the alien Starro is about to wreak havoc.
Although such a premise would encourage fans to expect surprises, each main character still had certain moments where they made decisions or displayed behavior that was particularly shocking. These are the things that either went against their characterizations and weren’t set up by the story to take place until they ended up happening. Overall, it’s worth taking a look into how these surprising things ended up impacting the plot as well.
Polka-Dot Man: Imagining His Mother In The Bar
After carrying himself with a death wish for the majority of the movie, Polka-Dot Man became one of the bravest characters in The Suicide Squad. The turn came when he enjoyed with the team at the bar, where bonding with the rest got him out of his shell. However, the scene also featured Polka-Dot Man imagining his mother instead of the bar patrons as he danced, which was shocking since it contradicted his earlier claims.
He’d mentioned projecting his hated mother at things he wanted to vanquish, but the woman’s appearance at a time where Polka-Dot Man was having an enjoyable time came out of nowhere. It ultimately signified how he couldn’t shake her abuse off even when he was happy.
Bloodsport: Petting Sebastian The Rat
Bloodsport’s arc in the movie was to accept his leadership potential by doing the right thing. He did just that by guiding the team to victory, although his fear of rats remained present throughout, even when Ratcatcher 2 summoned the city’s rats to attack Starro.
This made the final shot of the movie surprising, as Bloodsport allowed Ratcatcher 2’s pet Sebastian to lay on his thigh. Bloodsport even went so far as to pet the rat, which completed his character development but was unexpected since he had only moments prior shown fear of the animal.
Harley Quinn: Shooting Down Silvio Luna
There was an extended sequence in The Suicide Squad where Harley seemingly fell in love with Silvio Luna, complete with her accepting his proposal for marriage. The camera focused on Luna when he revealed his intention to rule Corto Maltese with an iron first, making for a real jump scare when he was suddenly shot by Harley.
Having appeared as a woman who craved being in love during the first movie and in Birds of Prey, watching Harley gun down the man who intended to marry her was surprising. This did result in her positive character development, as Harley claimed she didn’t want to be stuck with another abusive partner.
The Thinker: Revealing That He Was Working For Waller
This was a shock for all viewers of the movie, as it turned out that the team’s efforts were to help the bad guys all along. As it was, The Thinker revealed that the experiments he carried out on innocent people were backed by the U.S. government, meaning he was basically on the same side as Task Force X.
The team was led to believe that they were to bring an end to Starro, only to realize that their mission was just to erase the U.S. government’s involvement. This made them no better than The Thinker, who argued that he at least admitted he didn’t think of himself as some kind of hero.
Amanda Waller: Using Team A's Deaths As A Distraction
The opening saw a massacre that led to surprising deaths in The Suicide Squad. This slaughter included former main character Captain Boomerang, and it almost got Rick Flag and Harley killed as well. When the killing had stopped, Amanda Waller was shown flashing a smirk of satisfaction.
It turned out that she had planned for all these people to be killed as the team was just a distraction for the main group to arrive on the other side unseen. Even for someone like Waller, this was extremely cold, as she sent Team A to their violent doom just to act as bait.
Ratcatcher 2: Forgiving King Shark's Attempt To Eat Her
Ratcatcher's naivete was so endearing that she became one of the funniest characters in The Suicide Squad. And yet, it didn’t seem as if she was that innocent until King Shark was about to devour her while she slept. After coming to, it was a shock for the team when she didn’t hold any ill will toward King Shark.
In its place, Ratcatcher 2 extended a hand of friendship toward him, which made sense in the overall story but was too strange in the particular scene. After all, she was mere moments away from being eaten, only for Ratcatcher 2 to make light of that and become even more attached to King Shark.
Peacemaker: Showing Remorse For Killing Rick Flag
Peacemaker was so resolute toward his lopsided sense of peace that most of the quotes in The Suicide Squad relating to him were repeating the same thing. While it was expected of him to be one of the bad guys, it was a surprise to see Peacemaker actually regret it.
Having spent the whole movie mercilessly killing people and showing off about it, Peacemaker was wracked with guilt for fighting and then taking Rick Flag’s life. The fact that there was a conscience inside of him was the most startling revelation about the character.
King Shark: Unleashing His Rage On Corto Maltese Soldiers
For the most part, King Shark’s violence was only due to his natural instinct as a carnivore. He was sweet-natured otherwise, obeying orders from the team and hoping to make friends. This was why his extreme rage was a shock by the climax, as he unleashed himself on the Corto Maltese forces.
His anger was so great that King Shark ripped off the general’s head and kept chewing at it for some time. King Shark had been seen taking big hits earlier in the movie as well, so it was astonishing to see him lose his temper so greatly when he was being shot at by the army.
Rick Flag: Ditching His Loyalty Towards Amanda Waller
Rick’s allegiance towards Waller was absolute in the first movie, so much so that he never questioned her for a second. He was much the same in The Suicide Squad as well despite Waller leaving him to die with Team A.
However, Rick had a limit and he decided to turn on Waller after finding evidence linking the U.S. government to Corto Maltese. With Rick being so extreme in his loyalties for Waller, it was shocking for him to ditch her in a moment as he planned on exposing her crimes to the world.
Starro: Initially Letting Task Force X Go
Starro was built up as the main antagonist of the movie until it was revealed that he was a tragic figure who was kidnapped from space and experimented on for 30 years. What was most surprising, however, was Starro having a sense of honor, as he let Task Force X live after he was freed.
This was when Starro was destroying all of Corto Maltese and could have easily killed the team as well, but chose not to do so as repayment for setting him free. Viewers wouldn’t have expected Starro to have some level of benevolence, giving the character an additional layer of characterization.