The first trailer of Suicide Squad reveals Idris Elba, John Cena and more at DC Fandome

The director of the Suicide Squad, James Gunn, revealed who plays which villain in the movie 2021 Saturday at DC FanDome, and shared a teaser with some images and glimpses behind-the-scenes at the action-packed movie.

Idris Elba, it turns out, plays Bloodsport; wrestler actor John Cena plays Peacemaker; longtime Gunn pal Nathan Fillion played TDK; a Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson played Blackguard. Some of the roles revealed at DC FanDome were already known, including Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn; Viola Davis as Amanda Waller; Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag; and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang.

And if you thought the Avengers had an enormous group, buckle up, because The Suicide Squad is enormous. Here is the full character list, as shared by Gunn on Twitter:

Idris Elba played Bloodsport
Margot Robbie played Harley Quinn
Viola Davis played Amanda Waller
Sean Gunn plays Weasel
Pete Davidson played Blackguard
Daniela Melchior played Ratcatcher 2
Joel Kinnaman plays Colonel Rick Flag
Nathan Fillion played TDK
Jai Courtney plays Captain Boomerang
Steve Agee plays the insert King Shark and John Economos
Mayling Ng played Mongal
David Dastmalchian played Polka-Dot Man
Alice Braga played Sol Soria
John Cena plays Peacemaker
Juan Diego Botto plays President-General Silvio Luna
Peter Capaldi played The Thinker
Michael Rooker played Savant
Flula Borg played Javelin
Joaquín Cosío is Mayor Mateo Suarez
Jennifer Holland played Emilia Harcourt
Storm Reid played Tyla

Gunn said during the panel that The Suicide Squad was “by far the funniest thing I’ve ever done to make a movie”, which may have surprised some fans who expected the Guardians of the Galaxy movies to take that place. Gunn also praised the extensive special effects, many of which were shown in a video reel that mixed behind-the-scenes footage. Cast members joined him for a laugh-filled trivia game, and Gunn answered questions from submitters. He was most excited to write for Harley Quinn, he said, mentioning that the character has a “chaotic trickster god” element

He also said fans should not be afraid that he did not get a free hand to make the film he wanted, tweeting it is “100%, zero interference, ME-not-contains.”

I can confirm #TheSuicideSquad is 100%, zero interference, no-holds-barred ME, &, again, I can not wait for you guys to get a glimpse of it at #DCFanDome. (Yes, I pimp FanDome a lot, but that’s because I know how exciting it will be – for my movie and other things too! Ek) https://t.co/CClwKIi5nS

– James Gunn (@JamesGunn) August 4, 2020

Gunn wrote and directed the first two Guardians of the Galaxy films for Marvel, but signed on for The Suicide Squad after Marvel briefly fired him for tweets in color. Producer Peter Safran has said that The Suicide Squad is not a direct sequel to the original 2016 film Suicide Squad, although it does feature several returning characters played by the same actors. The similarity of the titles is confusing, but the second film uses “The” in its title.

After the panel, Gunn forced two very similar posters from DC FanDome, inviting fans to spot the differences.