DC Comics’ Secret Six is coming to CBS — here’s what you need to know

Credit: DC Comics

There’s Suicide Squad and then there’s the Secret Six, the other group of DC Comics villains assigned to save the world — and now they’re coming to CBS.

Fans of DC Comics aren’t yearning for live-action material. DC Comics has shows on multiple networks including their streaming service, DC Universe. However, his year, fans are bidding farewell to at least one DC show. As Gotham comes to an end on Fox, DC is bringing another show to network television, this time on CBS. According to Variety, CBS is developing a series based on DC Comics’ Secret Six:

"“CBS is developing a drama series based on the DC Comics property Secret Six… The project, which has received a pilot production commitment at the network, follows six morally ambiguous strangers, each with their own unique specialties and secret pasts.”"

This comic isn’t based on just any strangers. These are some of the worst villains in all of DC Comics. While they share some similarities, they aren’t Suicide Squad. Secret Six was a DC comics series that only ran for seven issues after its 1968 debut. Mockingbird was head of the organization of the original Secret Six. As the figurehead, Mockingbird would send a group of operatives on missions. After the cancellation of the original series, Martin Pasko and Dan Spiegle brought the series back in the late ’80s.

However, it wasn’t until 2005 when the series got rebooted, courtesy of writer Gail Simone and illustrator Dale Eaglesham. In this new version of Secret Six, the team was comprised of DC villains. Simone kept Mockingbird as the figurehead, and like Suicide Squad’s Amanda Waller, the shadowy figure gave provided these villains with extra motivation for their heroics. Mockingbird manipulated and blackmailed the team into doing his bidding.  But, unlike Amanda Waller, the identity of Mockingbird remained a secret. These villains came together to fight against the elite. Most importantly, they did not agree with DC’s Secret Society of Super-Villains.