The highly anticipated official trailer of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad was released last month. It showcased the movie’s best cast of characters. It also confirmed that the film will feature Starro, DC’s evil alien that looks like a starfish. In fact, he’d be the main villain of the story. And that’s something which people have been truly excited about. Starro is actually the perfect villain for the story and James Gunn agrees!
During an interview with Den of Geek, Gunn spoke about Starro. He explained why the Kaiju Starfish is such a fun villain:
“Starro is hilarious because he’s ridiculous. He’s a giant, cerulean blue starfish, but he’s also f*cking terrifying. When I was a kid I thought was the scariest thing of all time… and I think that exemplifies what this movie is: it is ridiculous and it’s also terrifying, and serious. So he worked really well as the villain of the movie- as one of the villains, actually.”
For some time, DC fans thought that Taika Waititi might voice Starro since his role in the movie wasn’t disclosed. But Gunn already confirmed that Waititi is not voicing Starro. @JoshThomas1994 asked on Twitter, “Is Taika voicing Starro?” Gunn replied, “No”. Gunn did not provide any other information. But now we know who the Thor: Love and Thunder director isn’t playing Starro. There have been many guesses that he would provide the voice of King Shark. But it was unveiled in the trailer that the character is being played by Sylvester Stallone. Well, now we know that Taika is actually playing Ratcatcher 1. He is the original Ratcatcher, while Daniela Melchior plays Ratcatcher 2.
Starro was introduced in DC Comics in 1960 with the release of “The Brave and The Bold #28”. He has remained a permanent staple of the biggest DC villains ever since. As a race of alien starfish with mind control powers, Starro is one of the roster’s more unusual figures. He is the one that has undeniably lasted the test of time. James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad will see Starro coming to Earth in an invasion that prompts Amanda Waller to bring a new and larger version of the titular Squad.
Now, there are plenty of reasons to answer why Starro is the best villain for The Suicide Squad. Starro might not be the first villain that would enter anyone’s head when it comes to the Suicide Squad sequel. It is a figure with enough history behind it to get comic fans excited and serve as a legitimate threat. He has enough personality and potential because of which the mistakes made with Enchantress in the first film can be avoided and fixed.
Starro might repeat the problems the first Suicide Squad had with the Enchantress. But if you look at the later versions of the figure, they have more engaging personalities. Starro defies the expectation that he should, by all means, be another bland enemy from space. Starro is an enemy that has faced some of DC’s most powerful heroes over the years. Starro can definitely do some damage. For this, he can also kill countless members of the Suicide Squad. Also, Waller would not want to send incredibly powerful individuals at it because doing that would risk them falling into Starro’s control. The Suicide Squad will see Starro as an out-and-out villain. But it could be a suitable plot twist to have the creature convinced to come over to the side of the good.
Gunn recently answered some fan questions related to The Suicide Squad. He revealed why King Shark was changed from a hammerhead to a great white:
“I did tests with the hammerhead design, which I love and originally thought I’d use. But having eyes on the sides far apart made it incredibly awkward shooting interactions with other people. You couldn’t really see him looking at the other person & the shots tended to be too wide.”
Directed by James Gunn, The Suicide Squad is scheduled to release on August 6, 2021, in theatres and streaming platform HBO Max. The film features Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, and Peter Capaldi in the lead roles. It is the tenth film in the DCEU.
Here is the official synopsis of The Suicide Squad:
“Imprisoned convicts of Belle Reve penitentiary are sent as members of Task Force X to the South American island of Corto Maltese to destroy Jotunheim, a Nazi-era prison, and laboratory which held political prisoners and conducted experiments.”
