The Suicide Squad, directed by James Gunn, has quickly become one of the most highly anticipated superhero movies of 2021, which is no easy feat in a year with no shortage of competition. Set to premiere both in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6th, the latest film by the Guardians of the Galaxy director already has fans excited to witness the latest exploits of its titular anti-hero team.
One major reason for the hype around The Suicide Squad is its trailers, which showcase a colorful, offbeat style — much closer to an R-rated Guardians of the Galaxy in aesthetic than the original 2016 Suicide Squad film. The trailers show off returning characters like Harley Quinn, Amanda Waller, and Rick Flag, as well as new faces like Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, John Cena’s Peacemaker, and King Shark, voiced by Sylvester Stallone. However, the trailers also foreshadow the presence of an even stranger DC character, who seems to be a major antagonist in the film.
Eagle-eyed DC fans have surely noticed that in both of the recent trailers for The Suicide Squad, there are a few brief shots that show members of the titular team facing off against a giant starfish-like monster. This creature is none other than Starro the Conqueror, a classic DC villain who’s been around since 1960. Starro is perhaps most famous for his debut in Brave and the Bold #28 — the very first comic to feature an appearance of the Justice League — but he’s made plenty more appearances over the decades, often trying to brainwash humanity using his psychic powers. He’s even been featured as an antagonist in several DC adaptations, including Batman Beyond, Young Justice, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
But while Starro’s history as a DC villain is a long and storied one, he’s probably more well known to current fans for his more recent, less antagonistic exploits. In the 2018 comic miniseries Justice League: No Justice, written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson, Starro is one of several villains and heroes recruited by Superman’s nemesis Brainiac to stop a group of world-destroying entities known as the Omega Titans. Forced to team up with his longtime foes to save the universe, Starro joins forces with the Justice League in an unlikely partnership — and even sacrifices his life to protect his sworn enemies. But because death is rarely ever permanent in superhero comics, the story of Starro doesn’t end there.
In 2018’s Justice League #10, Scott Snyder revealed that Batman had created a tiny clone of Starro which he keeps inside a jar, earning him the nickname Jarro. Unlike his cruel and megalomaniacal predecessor, Jarro proved to be a kinder, gentler Starro, demonstrating a childlike and innocent personality. He even looked up to Batman as a father, hoping to one day become the new Robin and earn his father’s praise as a true hero — hardly the character development one would expect from one of the Justice League’s first opponents.
Even so, Jarro became a hit with fans, earning him a recurring role as a supporting character in the Justice League comic. He even got a brief spot as a main protagonist in Justice League #29, in which he was forced to take on Lex Luthor and his Legion of Doom all by himself. Jarro put up a valiant fight, even showing off some bat-gadgets he’d upgraded with his alien intellect. But to stand a chance against the DC Universe’s deadliest team of villains, Jarro was forced to embrace his evil instincts and become Starro the Conqueror once more. Only with the help of Batman was Jarro able to come to his senses and return to his tiny, adorable self.
At first, the story of Jarro likely seems impossible to adapt to film. After all, this is a character who starts out as a terrifying, world-conquering alien — who happens to be shaped like a giant starfish — and ends up as a surrogate son to Batman. But if any filmmaker can make an audience care about one of the weirdest characters imaginable, it’s James Gunn. In Guardians of the Galaxy, he made countless fans cry over a talking tree and his raccoon friend, and in the sequel, he did it again with an alien pirate who controls an arrow by whistling. There may not be a better director fit to take the strangest aspects of superhero comics and get moviegoers invested in them.
Of course, there’s no way of knowing for sure at this point that Jarro will be making an appearance in The Suicide Squad at all — not when there’s still so much mystery around the nature of Starro’s presence in the film. However, if James Gunn chooses to introduce the pint-sized alien starfish as a companion of the Suicide Squad, Jarro could easily become the DC Universe’s own Baby Groot. Not only would Jarro be a prime candidate for merchandising, but his presence could also even make for a compelling character arc in a potential third Suicide Squad film. Seeing a group of former supervillains raise a baby alien, helping him move past his history as a monster while trying to become better people themselves — it may sound silly at first, but it’s a perfect opportunity for some truly poignant character growth.
But for now, this is all just speculation. While a Peacemaker TV series starring John Cena is set to premiere on HBO Max in January 2022 with Gunn as writer and director, there’s been no confirmation of a third Suicide Squad film. Gunn’s next film project will be Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, slated for May 23, 2023 — though before that, he’s also set to direct The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney Plus. It’s currently still unknown if James Gunn will be helming any further films for DC after his return to Marvel. But if he does, there are plenty of fans who would surely love to see Jarro appear on the big screen.