It’s Time To Meet The Suicide Squad

Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney)

As his name suggests, Captain Boomerang uses weaponized boomerangs to commit violent crime and mayhem. His real name is George “Digger” Harkness, and he is widely loathed for his racism, viciousness and inherent cowardice. Harkness is a renowned prankster, whose clowning is tinged with an edge of anarchic resentment.

That resentment stems from the rise of metahumans in the public domain. He has found, since superheroes and supervillains have stepped out of the shadows and into mainstream consciousness, that his brand of slightly-above-average criminality is essentially obsolete. With no ‘special powers’ of his own to speak of, he holds nothing but bitterness for his station in life.

Enchantress (Cara Delevingne)

While, in the source material, Enchantress is a some-time member of Suicide Squad, in this film it seems she is an antagonist. The powerful sorceress is among the first targets of the supervillain assembly, after she’s unleashed from a lengthy dormancy by adventurer, June Moone.

Enchantress is an ancient, evil force – one which fuses with the young June Moone when she stumbles upon a secret lair. Effectively possessing her, Enchantress seeks to exert her influence after so much time being locked away. She has unlimited magical powers and can engage in energy projection and manipulation. She can teleport, heal, fly, open portals and – crucially – summon demons at will.

The inclusion of Enchantress as the opposing force in Suicide Squad adds a further groundbreaking dimension to the project, as female antagonists are very rare in comic book movies. DC has used them, on occasion, before – notably Talia al Ghul in The Dark Knight Rises and Catwoman in Batman Returns. But, compared to the number of ‘bad guys’ these films propagate, female supervillains are few and far between.