It was only a short while ago that DC Comics' Suicide Squad was an obscure team known only to hardcore comic book fans. What a difference a few months make.
By now, you've probably already heard the news that DC's Suicide Squad movie has its primary cast in place: Will Smith as Deadshot, Tom Hardy as Rick Flagg, Jared Leto as Joker, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and Cara Delevingne as Enchantress.
This won't be the Suicide Squad's first time to be portrayed on the screen, though. The argument could be made that DC has been slowly seeding the Squad into its properties ahead of the movie announcement. The team, in various configurations, has shown up several times on TV and elsewhere, and you can stream most of them right now on Netflix.
Justice League Unlimited
Season 1 | Episode 17 | 2005
In an episode titled "Task Force X," Rick Flagg leads a team of convicts on a dangerous mission to inflitrate the Watchtower, the Justice League's space station orbitting Earth, to steal a powerful weapon. It was the very first time the Suicide Squad ever appeared on a screen of any size. The Squad (renamed Task Force X by execs who didn't want the word "suicide" on a kids' cartoon) roster for this episode was Flagg, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Clock King and Plastique.
Stream it on Netflix.
Smallville
Seasons 9 & 10 | Multiple Episodes | 2010-2011
The Squad shows up to complicate the lives of Clark Kent and friends as the show was nearing the end of its decade-long run. Though they started out as operatives working for Checkmate's Amanda Waller, they wound up answering to none other than Clark's friend Chloe Sullivan. The rotating team members included Rick Flagg, Deadshot, Plastique, Warp and Icicle.
Available for digital purchase on Amazon.
Arrow
Season 2 | Episode 16 | 2014
The aptly titled episode "Suicide Squad" found John Diggle and Lyla Michaels being pressed back into government service to lead a new Suicide Squad on a mission to recover a chemical weapon from a warlord. Along with Diggle and Michaels, the team consisted of Deadshot and Bronze Tiger, along with lead support by Amanda Waller. Shrapnel is briefly part of the team, and Harley Quinn pops up in a cameo offering her services, but Waller considers her too deranged to be trusted.
Available to stream on Netflix.
Batman: Assault on Arkham
Direct-to-Video Movie | 2014
This animated film released by DC is set in the universe of the Batman: Arkham video games, and contributes to the continuity of the appearances of several Squad members in those games. For the movie, Amanda Waller puts together a black ops team made up of former Arkham inmates, who are sent back in undercover to stop Riddler from exposing the Suicide Squad's existence to the public. Assault on Arkham's Squad was made up of Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Black Spider, Captain Boomerang, Killer Frost and King Shark. KGBeast and Bronze Tiger also serve brief tenures among the team.
Available for digital purchase on Amazon.
Warner Bros./DC's Suicide Squad big-screen blockbuster is being written and directed by David Ayer, and is expected to hit movie screens on August 5, 2016. It will be the second of DC Comics' "shared universe" movies, following March 2016's Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
