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James Gunn reveals which Suicide Squad character he couldn’t kill off

James Gunn shares how he couldn't bring himself to kill Ratcatcher 2, despite The Suicide Squad's original pitch

James Gunn reveals which character he couldn't kill in The Suicide Squad

James Gunn’s new DCEU movie, The Suicide Squad – if the name didn’t give it away already – has plenty of death and gory scenes. However, that doesn’t mean that Gunn isn’t sentimental at heart. During a recent interview with Variety, the director revealed how he changed the action movie’s original script, which involved the death of a main character – who was “ so sweet”, that he just couldn’t bring himself to deliver the final blow.

The Suicide Squad is an R-rated comedy movie about colourful criminals who have explosive chips in their brains. In exchange for a reduced prison sentence, the supervillains go out on highly dangerous missions for America; however, their heads will literally explode if they fail to follow protocol. Gunn isn’t afraid to kill off his cast, offing a few of the leading characters in beautifully violent scenes. However, even though the director has no issue getting rid of most of the titular DC baddies, it seems he draws the line at messing with rats.

Gunn revealed how Daniela Melchior’s character was initially meant to die when he first pitched the script to Warner Bros. “The original ending that I pitched, one main character died, and one main character did not die. And the main character who died was Ratcatcher 2,” Gunn said.

However – spoiler alert! – it isn’t Ratcatcher who dies, but instead Polka-Dot Man, a standout character included in the movie after Gunn googled the dumbest supervillain. Despite Polka-Dot Man having one of the most tragic backstories, and some of the film’s best jokes, he was no match for Ratcatcher’s wholesome-ness, and ultimately got the chop. “She was so sweet, I just felt like it was just too dark,” Gunn explained. “Not that we don’t love Polka-Dot Man. We do. I just couldn’t [kill Ratcatcher 2]. So I relented.”

The public has seemingly agreed with his choice, as The Suicide Squad has been riding high on critical praise since its release, despite its less-than-stellar box-office performance. Gunn is best known for his work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and fans can look forward to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which will be released in 2023. He will also be working on The Suicide Squad spin-off TV series Peacemaker, which will drop on the streaming service HBO Max next year.

The Suicide Squad is out in cinemas now.