The Suicide Squad’s Polka-Dot Man Is A James Gunn Miracle
Polka-Dot Man is known as a ridiculous villain among DC Comic fans, but James Gunn somehow turns him into a great character with a tragic arc.
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Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for The Suicide Squad.
James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad pulls off plenty of miracles for the thematic elements, gore, and characters, with one particularly impressive example is DC’s Polka-Dot Man. The Suicide Squad is a standalone sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad, only referencing the previous film in passing. DCEU’s new installation follows a new team of convict heroes sent on a daring mission to destroy the U.S.’s involvement in creating the giant alien villain Starro.
The Suicide Squad has fun poking at many of its villainous protagonists, especially those whose powers and skills appear unhelpful and unintimidating. In The Suicide Squad’s opening sequence where the diversion team 1 is nearly all obliterated, several of the comedic moments come from the ineptitude of the team, including Weasel, who (supposedly) instantly drowns, TDK, whose detached arms are immediately destroyed, and Savant, who sees all the carnage and tries to flee. After team 1 is toast, James Gunn switches the excitement over to the real Suicide Squad, whose prospects, aside from the weaponry of Bloodsport and Peacemaker, don’t seem any more promising.
Much of The Suicide Squad’s fun is the way that James Gunn turns some of DC’s most useless and ridiculous comic book characters into all the hope the world has to complete the mission. Gunn’s placement of Polka-Dot Man, one of DC’s biggest punchlines of a villain, on the Suicide Squad initially signals increased doubt for the team but ends up making the character a saving asset with an incredible arc. In most hands, Polka-Dot Man would simply be an overly silly nuisance, but under James Gunn’s direction, the character’s arc — the crazy, most underestimated member, whose story emits sympathy from the audience and ends with a heroic sacrifice — completely transcends expectations.
Throughout the movie, Polka-Dot Man rarely uses his powers (which actually prove to be quite lethal), instead, focusing more on the cyst-like colored dots growing out of his face and his mother issues. He explains that his mother is “everywhere,” adding to comedic beats as well as his fulfilled arc of overcoming the pain his mother caused him. Polka-Dot Man’s mother had desperately tried to make him and his siblings superheroes, relentlessly testing on them, which left most of them dead and Polka-Dot Man with a resentment that led to him killing her and ending up in prison. Although one of the more ridiculous team members, he’s actually shown to have one of the kindest hearts, as he’s the only one compassionately concerned when Milton dies in the building.
In addition to James Gunn making Polka-Dot Man a surprisingly likable character, his arc makes his death the most tragic in The Suicide Squad’s confrontation with Starro. When Bloodsport and Ratcatcher 2 believe all is lost against Starro, the gun-wielding supervillain convinces Polka-Dot Man to use his powers to save them by telling him Starro is his mother. In a comedic turn, Starro turns into a giant Godzilla-like version of his mother, with all of the minions following suit, inspiring Polka-Dot Man to release all of his anger and use his polka dots to destroy Starro’s leg. Seeing how his powers were used for good, The Suicide Squad’s Polka-Dot Man rejoices in his actions and gleefully declares himself a superhero, ironically fulfilling his mother’s wishes by destroying her. In one fell swoop by Starro, Polka-Dot Man loses his life, sacrificing himself in the line of duty. Although Polka-Dot Man’s DCEU life was cut short, James Gunn’s brilliant execution of a jokingly bad villain as a tragic character was enough to make him one of the most enjoyable aspects of The Suicide Squad.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/suicide-squad-polka-dot-man-james-gunn-miracle/