Only Two Of The Suicide Squad’s 12 Deaths Actually Matter

The Suicide Squad introduced a bunch of new characters as part of Task Force X and also saw many deaths, both from team members and antagonists, but only two of them actually matter – here’s which ones and why. After the underperformance of Justice League and a lot of controversy around it and other movies, DC’s Extended Universe has gone through some changes in tone and style, in order to revive interest in this connected universe of superheroes. Among its latest projects is James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, a standalone sequel to David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, released in 2016.

The Suicide Squad sees Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) recruiting new villains for Task Force X and bringing back some of the original members as well, as are Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), and Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman). Little did they know, Waller formed two teams and wasn’t going to hesitate to kill any of them if they went against her orders, but the first team, mostly formed by new characters, didn’t make it past the first minutes of the movie as they were killed by the enemies or by Waller, as was Savant’s (Michael Rooker) case. Of course, and as teased by Gunn months before the movie came out, they weren’t the only characters who died, but out of all those casualties, only two deaths are truly important: Rick Flag and Polka-Dot Man’s (David Dastmalchian).

With most of the first Task Force X team dead except for Harley and Flag, it was up to the second team to carry on with the mission. That’s where viewers met Bloodsport (Idris Elba), King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Peacemaker (John Cena), and Polka-Dot Man, who were later joined by Harley and Flag. Due to the dangerous nature of the mission, not all members of the team made it to the end of The Suicide Squad, with Flag and Polka Dot Man dying in battle but for different reasons: Flag was stabbed by Peacemaker, who was following Waller’s orders closely and got into a fight with Flag, and Polka Dot Man was crushed by Starro during the final battle.

The deaths of the first Task Force X team aren’t sad nor truly important as there wasn’t even enough time for the audience to get acquainted with them, and the abilities and backstories of most were left a mystery as they were killed before they could show what they could do. Captain Boomerang was a well-known character, but he was brought back as a joke and a link to the original movie, so there wasn’t that much of an attachment to him either. On the other hand, Flag was the strongest link between both Suicide Squad movies and teams, and most importantly, he wasn’t a villain, and he saw his teammates as equals and even friends, as he did with Harley, so seeing him die by the hands of Peacemaker was shocking. Polka-Dot Man, even though he was a new character, won the audience over quickly, and they got to know the most important parts of his story, as were the origin of his condition and his biggest trauma, which was related to his mother.

What made Polka-Dot Man’s death even more significant was that he died a hero, proving to his mother (the image of her that haunted him) that he was capable of being a superhero. Flag and Polka-Dot Man had a lot more weight in the story than the first team and the rest of the characters who died in The Suicide Squad. It’s unknown if the backstories of Rick Flag and Polka-Dot Man will be further explored in other media or not, but at least they didn’t die just for the sake of gore and drama.

About The Author

Adrienne Tyler
(3269 Articles Published)

Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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