For unknown reasons, it’s become a fact of life that if you want to use a giant statue to promote a movie, London is the only place to do it, with James Gunn’s DCEU blockbuster The Suicide Squad the latest to join the bizarre and increasing tradition.
A giant Paddington was placed outside the Royal Exchange in anticipation of the beloved character’s first solo movie, while Jurassic Park went one better by unveiling a huge recreation of Jeff Goldblum with his shirt open to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s classic. Not to be outdone, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm sailed a 40-foot inflatable of the Kazakh reporter down the River Thames to mark the Amazon sequel’s release, and now obscure comic book villain Starro has become the latest honoree.
As you can see below, James Gunn was more than a little enthusiastic at seeing the mammoth starfish taking pride of place ahead of the movie’s world premiere.
Starro is a cosmic entity that was initially introduced as a foe for the Justice League back in the 1960s, but has taken on a new life as something of a cult hero, largely based on how ridiculous the idea of an inter-dimensional echinoderm bent on destruction is in theory, practice and execution.
Based on the early reactions to The Suicide Squad and the hype currently building to fever pitch around it, Starro is exactly the type of villain Gunn’s soft reboot needed to both hammer home the point that it’s an entirely different beast to David Ayer’s maligned original, as well as allowing the filmmaker to indulge in his signature blend of irreverent humor on the largest and most insane scale possible.
