The Suicide Squad: How to approach Polka-Dot Man in the DCEU

How can James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad approach using the Polka-Dot Man?

Polka-Dot Man is cast for The Suicide Squad as you ought to know by now. Already people are flipping out. Polka-Dot Man? That guy with the polka-dots from the sixties? That silly, campy Batman villain? Yup, that guy. Some are even fearful or thinking he will be this film’s Slipknot.

Who is Polka-Dot Man

Polka-Dot Man or Abner Krill debuts in Detective Comics #300 in 1962. With the sixties in mind, this character certainly does fit the time – silly, one note, colorful and a gimmick. He has this ridiculous outfit covered in polka-dots, but he can remove the polka-dots into an arsenal of weapons. He also has a giant polka-dot he can fly around on. You are throwing your hands in the air, rubbing your head and thinking ‘oh my god.’ If this character starts to chill you after a couple of moments’ consideration, then don’t be alarmed. A feeling of intense and crushing terror at this villain indicates only that you are still sane.

The character has made appearances outside the comics such as Batman: Brave and the Bold, LEGO Batman and the LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham and LEGO  DC Super-Villains video-games. This will be his first live-action appearance on the big screen. Therefore, they got to him right. Right?

How They Can Do Polka-Dot Man

The DCEU is not set on telling origin tale after origin tale. Audiences in general are tiring of origin stories anyways. It’s safe to say Polka-Dot Man will not have some fleshed out origin story and already exists coming into the DCEU of The Suicide Squad. James Gunn can combine two stories for Polka-Dot Man’s character, Kevin Smith’s Batman: The Widening Gyre and his Post-Crisis stories. Kevin Smith has the villain as a man who adopts a gimmick to challenge the new and upcoming Batman in a game of wits. In this story, Polka-Dot Man pre-dates the regulars like The Joker and The Penguin.

In the Post-Crisis continuity we see him as this down-on-his-luck, penniless, has-been criminal. With no money he has no access to his expensive technology and takes to robbing a jewelry store with just a baseball bat. Detective Harvey Bullock gets the drop on him in this crime and seriously injures Abner Krill in the process. Afterwards he stops dueling with the Batman and eventually becomes an alcoholic.

A tragic story could make for an interesting character, especially if they help develop his genius. Keep in mind he has polka-dots that can transform into weapons. That does require suspense of belief, but anyone who can create technology like that is something of a genius. He can be a long-time inmate, in there sense the early days of Batman’s career.

Will Polka-Dot Man Be The Next Slipknot

Go over Twitter and social media, this is everyone’s response to this announcement. There are numerous details to keep in mind to counter this assumption.

One, in the original Suicide Squad comics from Ostrander, Slipknot did indeed try to escape and paid the penalty for it. Therefore, David Ayer was simply following the source material you can argue. This wasn’t a personal agenda or just a random coin toss to decide who to kill.

Second, do we need to show what Amanda Waller has in store for these villains? We the audience already know, does it need to be shown again? It does not hurt, but not needed. Plus, it is possible the new villains heard about Slipknot through the grapevine.

Finally, this is  David Dastmalchian, who is becoming something of a favorite amongst the comic-book movie fans thanks to The Dark Knight and Ant-Man. Why kill him in the same manner ala Slipknot. Did anyone really recognize Slipknot’s actor? Quite doubtful! Adding to this, Polka-Dot Man is actually more well-known than Slipknot. Polka-Dot Man has shown up in film and video-games before, including the Injustice comic. One can surmise that Polka-Dot Man is sadly more relevant.

With James Gunn’s humor it is hard to say where the character will go in the DCEU. Personally, I think something along the lines of Taser-Face from Guardians of  the Galaxy Vol. 2. Where the character is meant to be taken as a joke and nothing else.  David Dastmalchian can do humor as we see in Ant-Man. Let us not forget what drama he brings in The Dark Knight, even though he has little material.