James Gunn’s upcoming DC sequel The Suicide Squad is in talks to add David Dastmalchian as the Polka-Dot Man, according to THR.
The actor joins a cast currently made up of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller and Idris Elba in an undisclosed role.
As a somewhat minor bad guy, you’d be forgiven for not knowing who the hell the Polka-Dot Man is. A classic Batman villain, the Polka-Dot Man made his first comic appearance in Detective Comics #300 (published in February 1962).
Also known by his alias Abner Krill, the villain decided to launch a crime wave based on spots and dots in Gotham City (for reasons still unknown), and in doing so came up against Batman and Robin. His somewhat bizarre costume was covered in spots, which could be removed and used as a variety of deadly weapons and escape vehicles, most notably a flying saucer.
Ahead of The Suicide Squad, the Polka-Dot Man made screen appearances in Batman: The Brave And The Bold and The LEGO Batman Movie, and is a playable character in video game Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham and Lego DC Super-Villains.
Dastmalchian recently appeared in Ant-Man as ex-con Kurt, Gotham as Dwight Pollard, Twin Peaks as Pit Boss Warrick, Blade Runner 2049 as Coco, and Bird Box as the Whistling Marauder, and is currently filming Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, in which he is playing Piter De Vries.
The Suicide Squad is being written and directed by James Gunn, and produced by Michael De Luca, Peter Safran, Deborah Snyder and Zack Snyder, with Lars P Winther serving as a co-producer.
The Suicide Squad is in cinemas from 6 August 2021. Get all the latest superhero news with every issue of SciFiNow.