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The Ultimate Guide To Suicide Squad

The key to a successful universe is balance – something proven to be the case in both fact and fiction - on the page, and on the screen. Everything has its opposite, and you cannot have one without the other. There can be no good without evil, no light without darkness, and no heroes without villains. Thus, we have Suicide Squad – DC’s antidote to its morally conscientious Justice League, and the largely criminal yin to that overwhelmingly valiant yang.

El Diablo (Jay Hernandez)

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El Diablo

There have been three incarnations of El Diablo in the DC comic book universe. The first was known as Lazarus Lane, and was essentially a vigilante in the Old American West – arriving in All Star Western #2 in 1970. It transpired that Lane was cursed by a shaman named “Wise Owl” to be the host for a vengeful demon named El Diablo. This version has been portrayed in animation, voiced by Nestor Carbonell.

In 1989, El Diablo returned as Rafael Sandoval – a city council member in Dos Rios, who created the persona using a costume and local legends in order to generate some social justice. Currently, El Diablo is Chato Santana – a former criminal who encounters a comatose Lazarus in hospital. Santana falls into the more conventionally heroic end of the Suicide Squad spectrum, as an Olympic-standard boxer and athlete – albeit with a tendency to be possessed by questionable spirits and demons. His association with the Squad began with the New 52 re-launch of DC comic books, and his appearance in the Suicide Squad film will feature Santana’s iconic face markings.