Starro's Powers Explained: How Strong Is The Suicide Squad Villain?

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If you always wondered what an R-rated Guardians of the Galaxy film would look like, then The Suicide Squad is probably as close as you're going to get. The film, also directed by James Gunn, promises to be a pretty drastic departure from the supervillain team-up movie we got back in 2016. Thanks to the recently released trailer, we can see exactly the kind of humor to expect as well as the big bad the Squad has to contend with, and it may not have been the antagonist you were expecting. 

The end of the trailer provides a clear look at Starro (or Starro the Conqueror, if you want to get fancy), making for the creature's first live-action appearance minus a brief cameo in the short-lived superhero sitcom Powerless, but we don't think that really counts. The alien's mostly been confined to animated properties and has shown up in Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which is a shame considering its special history within DC Comics. Starro was actually the first villain the Justice League of America ever fought together, complete with its image on the cover taking on multiple superheroes at once (via The Mary Sue). As such, it's appropriate the parasite managed to show up in Zack Snyder's Justice League, albeit in the form of a sly Easter egg.

Alongside a talking shark and a weasel-looking thing, Starro feels right at home within The Suicide Squad, and here's a taste of what to expect based on what we know about the creature from the comics. 

Over the years, like any comic book character, Starro's power set has gone through some changes, but one thing has remained constant all the way through — mind control. A conqueror of the species is able to asexually produce thousands of other creatures of its kind, which are also known as Starro, so things get a little confusing after a while. These Starro can then attach themselves to other sentient beings to assimilate them. As such, a single conqueror can produce enough parasitic offspring to control everyone on an entire planet. However, in some stories, Starro the Conqueror has its own singular psychic powers, allowing it to enter people's minds without needing to attach a baby Starro.

As if that wasn't bad enough, this thing is also incredibly difficult to kill. Starro takes after its starfish brethren by having the ability to regenerate limbs, so if a hero cuts one off, it'll just grow it back. Combine that with your standard powers like incredible strength, flight, and energy absorption, and this is going to be one tough creature to beat for a clown lady and a guy who wears a toilet seat on his head. 

So how does one go about getting rid of this monster? It has two main weaknesses: garden lime (traditionally used to alter soil's pH balance) and freezing cold. Taking into account how the trailer for The Suicide Squad has a scene where the anti-heroic villains are walking through the blistering-cold snow, it's a safe bet they're opting for the latter option to take out the giant starfish.

Starro doesn't really have any stories with Task Force X in the comics, so it'll be interesting to see a wholly unique adventure play out when The Suicide Squad releases in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6. And while we've only seen the one big Starro from the trailer so far, more may not be too far behind.