Just a day ago, Warner Bros. Pictures dropped the first trailer for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. Many fans noticed that the upcoming soft reboot of 2016’s movie would feature a slightly different King Shark than expected. In the New 52 Suicide Squad comics, the anthropomorphic villain has the form of a hammerhead shark, while in the film the character voiced by Sylvester Stallone resembles more of a great white shark. Director Gunn took to his socials to talk about the change, explaining that it was practical.
I did tests with the hammerhead design, which I love & originally thought I’d use. But having eyes on the sides far apart made it incredibly awkward shooting interactions with other people. You couldn’t really see him looking at the other person & the shots tended to be too wide. https://t.co/7Pos3tZgma pic.twitter.com/GlIzjQjutU
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 27, 2021
RELATED: James Gunn Unleashes The Suicide Squad Trailer
Before revealing that convincing Stallone to dub King Shark was pretty easy, Gunn added that he came up with the dad-bod idea at the expense of a more bulked body structure. He also said that the character created by writer Karl Kesel and artist Tom Grummett would be wearing golf shorts in the movie.
But I was insistent on the dad-bod from the beginning as I didn’t think King Shark would have such mammalian body structure.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 27, 2021
He also didn’t know that the Harley Quinn cartoon, in development at the same time, would go for a similar look.
Yes, I realize he’s cute: strange since we actively avoided neotenic designs used on cute anthropomorphic beasts to elicit that evolutionary “awww.” Think Baby Groot/Yoda. His eyes are small, not big. His mouth is big, not small. And his head is tiny. https://t.co/N7tXDCPT7j
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 27, 2021
The Suicide Squad will debut in theaters and HBO Max on August 6.
What do you think about the shape of King Shark? Would you have preferred to see the hammerhead one? Let us know in the comments down below!
Recommended Reading: Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Trial by Fire
