If there's one thing James Gunn clearly had a lot of fun doing with The Suicide Squad (at least besides making viewers laugh and cry at the same time), it was his inclusion of more split-second cameos than pretty much anybody was able to count. Fans are still finding more with each passing day, and the latest is possibly one of the most obscure of all.
Between details like Gunn's own brother Sean Gunn appearing as Calendar Man and a certain cut cartoon character from Harley Quinn's hallway fight scene, The Suicide Squad was chock full of references and Easter eggs for those who wanted to look for them. But the most recent one found by eagle-eyed fans proves just how deep the director was willing to dig for his material. It's so obscure that some viewers originally thought it was another character altogether.
Reddit user TheLemsterPju posted a picture to the DC_Cinematic subreddit claiming they found a scene showing the irradiated supervillain Zebra Man from the DC comics, prompting many users to wonder how they didn't notice that. However, others were quick to point out that it was not, in fact, Zebra Man. In another post by user Twitchy2002, it turned out the character was actually another lesser-known individual named Karma, who had appeared in the Suicide Squad comics. Turns out putting stripes on a guy's head somehow doesn't make him distinct enough to tell which stripey-headed comic book character he is. Anti-heroes really have it rough these days.
Karma actually has similar powers to Marvel's Domino, recently seen in 2018's Deadpool 2. But unlike Domino, who is able to give herself good luck while making it worse for those around her, Karma's powers specifically affect everyone else. He can basically generate bad luck in the people near him, functionally ensuring that he'll never get hit in a fight. In the comics, he spent time with both the Doom Patrol and the Suicide Squad, eventually dying during a mission with the latter.
It's just one of the many bizarre details Gunn implemented in The Suicide Squad, aside from the multitude of others that he mentioned during a recent watch party thread on Twitter. Just like how he used the Collector as a fitting method of including similar deep cuts in Guardians of the Galaxy like Howard the Duck, this is one director who seems to revel in the idea of cramming in as much as he can with every movie he makes.
Including someone like Karma seems exactly like something Gunn would do, particularly in a movie that manages to feature Polka-Dot Man as a main character. Plus, there's always the chance that there will be more in the future, and everybody who didn't die in The Suicide Squad is probably fair game. So bring on the Karma.
The Suicide Squad is now playing in theaters.
Source: Reddit/Twitchy2002, TheLemsterPju/Reddit