Look, people are beautiful in all shapes and sizes, and there is no body shaming here. But even so, one has to wonder what could inspire the decision to make an anthropomorphic shark man not only a bit pudgy and soft but also honestly kind of cute. Aside from the theoretical impossibility of such a task, James Gunn put out a few tweets explaining why he and his team ultimately landed on this particular design for the character of King Shark in his upcoming soft reboot, The Suicide Squad.

In a Twitter thread answering fan questions about everyone's new favorite adorable killing machine, Gunn clarified the decision to dial back the muscles on King Shark. "I was insistent on the dad-bod from the beginning as I didn't think King Shark would have such mammalian body structure," he said after also explaining why the Sylvester Stallone-voiced character (yes, really) looks more like a great white than a hammerhead like in the comics (it's because the eyes would make it weird to interact with other characters). So that's all well and good, but there's a difference between a "dad bod" and the full-on Baby Yoda levels of huggability King Shark has apparently reached.

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Gunn admitted the team didn't expect that, as they had deliberately taken measures to actively try to prevent it. "His eyes are small, not big. His mouth is big, not small. And his head is tiny," he explained, detailing what specifically they did to avoid the "big eyes" cuteness that endeared audiences to characters like Grogu/Baby Yoda and Baby Groot. Of course, he fully conceded that he realized how cute King Shark ended up being, offering up no excuses or remorse for the outcome. Hey, sometimes cuteness and gruesome murder go hand in hand like with Beastars.

Many fans also pointed out the similarities between Gunn's version of King Shark and that of the truly excellent show everybody deserves to experience, HBO Max's Harley Quinn. Apparently, that was yet another unintended outcome, as The Suicide Squad had already begun shooting well before that particular series started airing. Even though it wasn't planned, Gunn had no issues with the resemblance, as he loved that particular version of the character (voiced expertly and hilariously by comedian Ron Funches). Maybe when Harley Quinn's extremely well-deserved 3rd season finally airs, it might feature a coy reference to Gunn's film now.

King Shark's design seems to further indicate just what kind of film The Suicide Squad is gearing up to be. Sure, he straight up tears a dude in half in the trailer, but look at that cute little face! Sure, he bites heads off like they're popsicles, but he also wears golf shorts. This film very much looks to be a wild ride filled with intense action and Gunn's own signature brand of comedy and based on the reactions to the trailer, fans wouldn't have it any other way.

Audiences still have to wait a bit to see how it all turns out, but come on, it's pretty clear that there will be King Shark plushies out in the world before this year is done. The only question is, how many is too many to have on the bed for cuddle purposes? Asking for a friend.

The Suicide Squad will release in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6, 2021.

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Source: James Gunn/Twitter