James Gunn Has A Very Good Reason For Making Starro — A ‘Ridiculous’ Giant Starfish — A Villain In ‘The Suicide Squad’

When it was first announced that one of the main villains in James Gunn’s upcoming The Suicide Squad would be a giant starfish-like alien with mind-control powers, many people seemed confused as to how a starfish (giant or otherwise) could work as any sort of genuine supervillain. And when they learned that said giant starfish-like alien’s name was Starro, well, that didn’t help matters. But Comic Book reports that Gunn’s connection to this particular character — who made his DC Comics debut all the way back in 1960 — is a personal one, as he explained during a recent press event:

“Well I just, I wanted a major DC villain that is a major DC villain that people wouldn’t expect to be in a movie. And I’ve always loved Starro. I mean, as a kid, I found Starro completely terrifying. The idea of this giant starfish with one big guy that shoots these things out of him that take over people’s brains, like those old pictures with Superman with him on his face. Always scared the shit out of me. So, it was about taking something that was completely, mind you, ridiculous, that looks, putting him in a setting that is the gritty streets of Cologne, Panama, and then allowing him to do his scary business, but he’s also completely outrageous. And so, that mix of things appealed to my aesthetic.”

Given that Gunn honed his filmmaking skills with Troma Studios (home of the The Toxic Avenger) and has turned a tiny little tree monster and a wise-cracking raccoon into two of cinema’s most beloved characters, mixing strange and silly with unexpectedly effective results has become Gunn’s brand. So it’s probably best to trust that the writer-director knows what will work best with his “Sh*tty Supervillains” movie.