The Suicide Squad gets first look, reveals Idris Elba, John Cena characters and more

The Suicide Squad director James Gunn revealed who’s playing which villain in the 2021 movie Saturday at DC FanDome, and shared a teaser with some footage and behind-the-scenes glimpses at the action-packed movie.

Idris Elba, it turns out, is playing Bloodsport; wrestler-actor John Cena is playing Peacemaker; longtime Gunn pal Nathan Fillion is playing TDK; and Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson is playing Blackguard. Some of the roles revealed at DC FanDome were already known, including Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn; Viola Davis as Amanda Waller; Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag; and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang. 

And if you thought the Avengers had a huge group, buckle up, because The Suicide Squad is enormous. Here’s the full character list, as shared by Gunn on Twitter:

Idris Elba plays Bloodsport

Margot Robbie plays Harley Quinn

Viola Davis plays Amanda Waller

Sean Gunn plays Weasel

Pete Davidson plays Blackguard

Daniela Melchior plays Ratcatcher 2

Joel Kinnaman plays Colonel Rick Flag

Nathan Fillion plays TDK

Jai Courtney plays Captain Boomerang

Steve Agee plays the on-set King Shark and John Economos

Mayling Ng plays Mongal

David Dastmalchian plays Polka-Dot Man

Alice Braga plays Sol Soria

John Cena plays Peacemaker

Juan Diego Botto plays Presidente General Silvio Luna

Peter Capaldi plays The Thinker

Michael Rooker plays Savant

Flula Borg plays Javelin

Joaquín Cosío is Mayor General Mateo Suarez

Jennifer Holland plays Emilia Harcourt

Storm Reid plays Tyla

Gunn said during the panel that The Suicide Squad was “by far the most fun I’ve ever had making a movie,” which may have surprised some fans who expected the Guardians of the Galaxy films to take that spot. Gunn also praised the extensive special effects, many of which were shown in a video reel that mixed behind-the-scenes footage. Cast members joined him for a laugh-filled trivia game, and Gunn answered fan-submitted questions. He was most excited to write for Harley Quinn, he said, mentioning that the character has a “chaotic trickster god” element

He’s also said fans shouldn’t fear he wasn’t given a free hand to make the film he wanted, tweeting it’s “100%, zero interference, no-holds-barred ME.”

I can confirm #TheSuicideSquad is 100%, zero interference, no-holds-barred ME, &, again, I can’t wait for you guys to get a glimpse of it at #DCFanDome. (Yes, I’m pimping FanDome a lot, but that’s because I know how exciting it’s going to be – for my film & other stuff too!😬) https://t.co/CClwKIi5nS

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) August 4, 2020

Gunn wrote and directed the first two Guardians of the Galaxy films for Marvel, but signed on for The Suicide Squad after Marvel briefly fired him for off-color tweets. Producer Peter Safran has said The Suicide Squad is not a direct sequel to the original 2016 film Suicide Squad, though it features numerous returning characters played by the same actors. The similarity of the titles is confusing, but the second movie uses “The” in its title.

After the panel, Gunn tweeted two very similar posters from DC FanDome, and invited fans to spot the differences.