Deathstroke Among DC Characters That Almost Were in 'The Suicide Squad,' Reveals James Gunn

After receiving a tweet from a fan asking a very important question, James Gunn revealed a long list of comic book villains which almost made the cut for The Suicide Squad – but didn’t. “When I first considered taking the job of writing #TheSuicideSquad I kept a file folder of characters I was considering,” Gunn tweeted. “Here are just a few (of many) that didn’t make the cut (for now!).”

He replied to that tweet twice, posting 4 pictures per tweet, making it 12 villains in all that he was considering for the movie – but chose to pass on. The villains in question are Livewire, Man-Bat, Chemo, KG Beast, Knockout, Gunhawk, Mr. Freeze, Killer Frost, Deathstroke, Black Spider, Solomon Grundy, Punch & Jewelee, And Rainbow Creature.

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Sadly, it seems we won’t be getting a live-action Man-Bat anytime soon. As Gunn explained:

“Every character in #TheSuicideSquad was chosen for a purpose, great or small, and although I love many of these other characters, they didn’t serve the story quite as well. I am of course open to using them in the future and there are many more wonderful @DCComics characters where these came from. See #TheSuicideSquad in theaters next month!”

It’s easy to see why the more OP characters – such as Mr. Freeze or Deathstroke – would be eliminated. After all, movies aren’t as much fun to watch – especially supervillain movies – if there isn’t some semblance of tension over whether or not the bad guys will win in the end. It could have been interesting, though, to see what some of those other characters – like Livewire, Killer Frost, or Rainbow Creature – would have brought to the table. And you can’t really have Punch & Jewelee there alongside Harley Quinn stepping on her toes and trying to Bogart her clown aesthetic. That would just be rude.

Fans can check out the villains who did make the cut on August 6 when The Suicide Squad will be released in theaters and available for streaming on HBO Max. Check out Gunn’s series of tweets below.

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