David Ayer Explains How He Assembled The Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad director David Ayer had a lot of choices to make when it came time to assemble his team of misfit villains. The rag tag group of misbegotten foes has had dozens of different members since DC Comics unveiled the informal collective in 1959, but Ayer told Screen Rant that some of the characters made more sense for the upcoming movie than others.

"Deadshot (played by Will Smith) was a no-brainer, because he's just a core element of that team," Ayer said. "I wouldn't say he's the father figure of the team... but he definitely has that leadership quality."

Ayer said he needed Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) to be the wild card at odds with the rest of the team. "He's sort of the most villainous of all these characters," Ayer said. "You know the character paradigms: he's like 'Evil Chaotic.'"

As for Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), the director said he researched the popular character's backstory to decide on which elements to include. It was then that he realized Quinn and the Joker are inseparable. "Her relationship with Joker is so defining, that it seemed like... it's salt and pepper," he said. "You gotta have one with the other. I mean, they go together like knife and fork."

And although there's no formal membership in Suicide Squad, Ayer hints that the events of the movie and ongoing comics could change the team's size and make way for fresh faces if Warner Bros. greenlights a sequel. "It's crazy how many characters there are," he said. "(DC Comics) keeps killing them all, blowing their heads off. And that's the beauty of this, too: you know no one's safe. No matter who is in the movie, they're not safe. Anything can happen."

Suicide Squad arrives in theaters Aug. 5.