DC and Warner Brothers blew the lid off of the comic book world yesterday by announcing their planned slate for the next few years. Among the most interesting of them all is a movie based on the
Suicide Squad, a group of interchanging villains controlled by the director of A.R.G.U.S., Amanda Waller. The biggest surprise is that it will also hit theaters in 2016 a few months after the unbelievably hyped,
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, making it the third subsequent movie in the DCCU. While some pundits may complain that it will be brought into the universe before mainstay heroes such as Wonder Woman, the Flash and Green Lantern, I personally think that it is a fantastic route for WB/DC to go in especially if they are trying to create something that doesn’t mirror what the geniuses at Marvel have been doing for the past few years.
I know we have heard a few rumors about who WB have contacted to play a few roles within the movie, but if we have learned anything from cbms (just look at
Doctor Strange) is that we will probably hear many more before the actual casting is revealed. I have made my own list of who I want in the Squad and who I would like to see playing the roles.
1. Amanda Waller – Pam Grier
You need someone who can exude power and has a certain maturity to pull off this roll properly on film, so I was tempted to put Angela Bassett in the role again even though she played it already in the atrocious
Green Lantern(2011). But in the spirit of rebooting every role going forward in the new DCCU, I decided to go with an outside of the box choice with Pam Grier. She is most known for her early blaxploitation films like
The Big Bird Cage and
Foxy Brown as well as the fantastic Quentin Tarantino directed,
Jackie Brown, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. She is heralded in many circles as being the first female action star. While she hasn’t been as active in film as of late ( more so in television), she could bring exactly what this role needs in establishing the comics version of Amanda Waller, an older, ruthless tyrant within the government.
2. Deathstroke – Ron Perlman
If we are in an established DCCU in which Batman is in his forties, then I would like to see an established Deathstroke as well and who better to portray Slade Wilson than the man who has actually even voiced him in
Teen Titans. Perlman has the look already ( down to the white hair) and the size to pull him off convincingly. And of you are unsure of his acting chops, then you need to see his work in
Son’s of Anarchy and both
Hellboy movies just to name a few.
3. Deadshot – Jamie Dornan
This guy is more of an unknown to a lot of people, but he definitely has the rugged good looks and acting abilities to make himself a name in the comic book movie industry with this role. You may know him from
Marie Antoinette or have heard that he is playing Christian Grey in the upcoming
Fifty Shades of Grey, but you will be sold if you see him as the serial killer, Paul Spector, on BBC 2’s
The Fall.
4. Harley Quinn – Isla Fisher
I absolutely love Isla Fisher for this role. Her acting range is absolutely fantastic in both dramatic and comedic performances with gems like
The Great Gatsby,
I Heart Huckabees and
Now You See Me. But it is her role as the sex crazed Gloria Clearly in
Wedding Crashers that really made me want to see what she could do as the psychotic side-kick to the Clown Prince of Crime. Just watch the bathroom scene where she is straddling Vince Vaughn and you will see what I mean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=392I_cnVbBI
5. Black Manta- Lennie James
Again if we are going with established characters like Black Manta the father of Aqualad, I want to see someone seasoned in this role. Lennie James has been in a myriad of films, but he is most well known for his gritty character performances in
Jericho,
Low Winter Sun (I hated this was cancelled) and as Morgan James in the popular,
The Walking Dead. I believe he would bring the tenaciousness and violent nature to the character in the way he was meant to be seen by audiences.
6. Killer Frost – Mila Kunis
We all know her from the popular sitcom, That 70’s Show, but she has definitely grown as an actress since her early years. She definitely has comedic timing (
Forgetting Sarah Mashall,
Ted) that will give her an edge playing the dry, cool as ice (pun intended), Killer Frost. If you have any further doubts about this choice, then sit down and watch the thriller,
Black Swan, and I promise you will change your mind.
7. Captain Boomerang - Sam Worthington
Captain Boomerang has been a staple of the Suicide Squad in the form of Digger Harkness all the way down to his son, Owen Mercer throughout the years. I would prefer the newer version as Owen Mercer (mainly because he has limited access the Speed Force), but I would be fine with either version. Who would be better than Australian actor, Sam Worthington to play one of the most notable members of the Squad? He is no stranger to action films with
Avatar,
Terminator Salvation,
Clash of the Titans,
Wrath of the Titans and
Sabotage all under his belt, so I know he would play a convincing boomerang specialist.
Bonus: Batman – Ben Affleck
Ok, ok, I know this isn’t a brand new casting but I just put this here for good measure. Batman has always been involved with the Suicide Squad in either trying to stop them, specifically Amanda Waller, or in helping to reform it. I just can’t see this movie without at least a small cameo from the Dark Knight to whet the audience’s appetite going forward.
In closing, I hope that this movie is a success in a long line of DC/WB films to come and we can continue to enjoy innovative cbms throughout the years.