The Suicide Squad - official name being Task Force X - is a group featuring supervillains forced to serve the government in impossible scenarios. It wasn’t the most popular work out of the comics by any means, but was brought to the attention of fans after featuring in the DC Animated Universe and the DC Extended Universe.
Since these two mediums have the most popular versions of the Suicide Squad, we’ll be looking into the members within those iterations. Although the concept behind them is understood, there’s no doubt that almost all of the characters in the Suicide Squad have no business being there. This is mainly because they were sent in against foes who easily outmatched them, and for you to understand better here are 10 of the most nonsensical members.
10 Slipknot
What did anyone expect from a guy who could “climb anything”, after all? It was ludicrous to suggest that Slipknot would have anything to offer, seeing as climbing stuff wasn’t even part of the mission the group had in the film.
Slipknot wasn’t even treated with respect within the film itself, as he was killed off about a couple minutes after he was introduced. What makes this guy so baffling is the fact that he was heavily promoted before the movie’s release, just for him to have his head blown off right when he showed up.
9 Deadshot
Usually, we’d agree that having Deadshot in a team is the best course of action since he can hit any target he has in mind, making Deadshot truly a million dollar asset. However, Suicide Squad had him in the worst scenario possible.
Think about it: what would a guy who can shoot stuff do against a demonic witch? Deadshot just wasn’t the man for this particular job, which is weird considering you’d think this guy was the perfect acquisition. This was one of the stark problems with the film, and Deadshot came across as a rather worthless member on this occasion.
8 Captain Boomerang
If a guy who can shoot anything however far away it is doesn’t qualify as a worthy member, then what the heck is the use of a guy who can fling boomerangs with accuracy? Captain Boomerang is usually an adversary of The Flash, but he was made to look like a joke against the superhero in Suicide Squad and was beaten within a second.
It was a dumb decision by Amanda Waller to figure Captain Boomerang would do anything substantial on their mission, and his only “contribution” was when he caused Slipknot’s death by convincing him to try and escape.
7 Rick Flag
Even in comics or TV series, the inclusion of Rick Flag is dubious at best, but the film's version was pretty useless. All he did was bark orders that weren’t followed, and his awful love story with June Moone was clearly shoehorned to justify Rick Flag being present in the first place.
If a bunch of people with super abilities weren’t fit to face a being like the Enchantress, then what the heck could Rick Flag do at all? In his place, it would’ve made sense to include Katana as the leader, since she had a weapon worth something and didn’t have any personal connection with the Enchantress either.
6 Plastique
In Justice League Unlimited, Plastique was forced to work with Task Force X to retrieve the Annihilator armor. Plastique’s abilities comprise of her having a vast array of explosives, making her something of a Gambit in the DC Universe.
However, it was a fool’s thought to send Plastique into the Justice League’s Watchtower, a fact confirmed when she was completely outdone by Captain Atom. Her lack of usefulness was further demonstrated when Deadshot detonated her own explosive at her so that the rest would abandon her and escape. We don’t even know what became of her, or if she died from her injuries.
5 Clock King
Sure, his plan to infiltrate the Watchtower did work out (albeit with Plastique as a casualty), but the Clock King’s role in acting behind the scenes was a thing of mystery in Justice League Unlimited.
He had previously been seen as an adversary of Batman, which makes it nonsensical as to why this guy wasn’t sent to the Watchtower itself, since he could have conjured up a plan that could easily have gotten Task Force X the armor and avoided being seen. Plus, why was he considered a Task Force X member if he wasn’t on the field?
4 The Annihilator Armor
This armor was used by Ares in Justice League Unlimited, and was considered indestructible even by the hands of Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl (originally), but it can be considered a member of Task Force X, seeing as the armor aligned with the group to escape the Watchtower.
And yet, there was no actual point in the armor being retrieved at all, considering it was never put to use by Cadmus. It was simply stored away before it was stolen by Tala in a later episode, making it a full-on liability rather than giving Cadmus an advantage.
3 June Moone
At least the Enchantress entity played the role of the main villain in Suicide Squad, whereas June Moone didn’t contribute squat to Task Force X. There shouldn’t have been a June Moone character in the film either, and the Enchantress would’ve made sense had she been an entity of her own.
The only time we saw June Moone be slightly useful was when she demonstrated her possession of Enchantress, after which she had no role to play in the film and just appeared at the climax. The character does nothing for anyone, making her just as senseless to be included as her boyfriend Rick Flag.
2 Killer Croc
Of the whole squad in the film, Killer Croc had the least kind of character development. He was a total waste in the story, being another character who didn’t make sense going against a demonic entity centuries old - how would a guy who was a humanoid crocodile be a match here?
He did contribute in the film, but that was against lame foes that had been poorly written in just for Killer Croc to have some scenes to be featured in. He wouldn’t be a bad inclusion in general terms, but was out of his element against a supernaturally powered character.
1 Harley Quinn
Yes, she’s the most popular character from the DCEU, but was easily the weakest and most out of place among the squad in the film. She’s no Hawkgirl in the Justice League, where she has secret or cool abilities; rather, Harley Quinn was there just to get fans to have any interest in the story.
If you feel we’re unfair on her then think about it: a girl with a small frame and no specific abilities against supernatural monsters? What good would a baseball bat do in this situation? If Amanda Waller thought sending Harley in was a good idea, then any person off the street was good enough to be in this situation. It’s a good thing she’s in a realistic scenario in Birds of Prey next.