We didn’t exactly get a trailer for The Suicide Squad at DC FanDome last weekend, but we did get a sizzle reel, combining behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with the cast and, yes, some material from the movie itself. And these clips may have revealed more than we initially thought. Fans have picked apart the sizzle reel and it looks like it might actually unveil the identity of the film’s main villain. And they’re a classic DC antagonist that we didn’t expect to see in the DCEU anytime soon.
At the 0:45 mark of the reel, which you can watch in the player above, you can see Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Idris Elba’s Bloodsport standing near what appears to be a soldier with a peculiar gas mask on his face. Well, at first we thought it was a gas mask. But fans are now convinced that it’s proof that Starro the Conqueror will be the ultimate big bad of the sequel.
You see, Starro is actually the very first foe fought by the Justice League – an evil alien starfish intent on world domination who controls people’s minds by sticking his “spores” to their faces, much like what’s going on with this soldier here. For further proof, if you zoom in, you can see what look to be pink tendrils in the background – which could be Starro’s tentacles.
Starro seemed like such an unlikely villain to appear in live-action as he’s a pretty crazy comic book character, but having Task Force X battle an alien starfish seems like just the sort of wacky idea that writer/director James Gunn would pull off, just like he made Ego the Living Planet work in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. It’s also worth noting that a recent leak, apparently from someone who viewed a test screening, claimed that Starro appears in the pic as well.
Fans are also wondering if Taika Waititi, whose role in the movie is still under wraps, could be voicing Starro. There’s less evidence pointing to that at this stage, but it would certainly be another fun, unexpected twist from The Suicide Squad.