The Big Bad Of 'Suicide Squad' Could Be Epic

Although the movie is only a handful of months away, the creators of Marvel's Suicide Squad have not been very forthcoming with information about who the film's villain will be. Yet it's seeming more and more likely that Suicide Squad 's big bad will be The Riddler. Sure, there are other options for who the antagonist could be, or if the movie has a whole squad of villains; journalist Umberto Gonzalez posted an image on Instagram claiming that the three main bad guys could be Deathstroke, Hugo Strange, and Ravan. But I feel confident saying that Team Riddler is still a safe bet.

In the comic book universe, The Riddler or Edward Nygma is a too-smart-for-his-own-good narcissist who can't stop leaving a trail of clues for Batman and the police to follow after he commits a crime. He also wears a ridiculous acid-green costume and rocks question marks all over the place. He is one of the most well-known Batman villains aside from The Joker, and I'm convinced he'll be in Suicide Squad. One of the reasons is the plot line of an earlier animated Batman movie that Suicide Squad already holds a lot of similarities to, called Batman: Assault on Arkham.

In the movie, which is one of the most well-known ways the Squad has been portrayed in the other media, Amanda Waller tasks the Squad with breaking into Arkham Asylum, killing The Riddler, and destroying a thumb drive with information on the team. But when Riddler lets them know he can help them escape from under the government's thumb, the game changes. The movie shares several similarities with Suicide Squad, including the fact that Waller is semi-villainous, The Joker is imprisoned in Arkham, and Batman is afoot (or a-wing, I suppose).

Then there's the synopsis of Suicide Squad via DC Comics, which talks of an "enigmatic, insuperable entity" as the villain. The Riddler's real name (E. Nygma) is literally a play on the word "enigma." Convinced yet? If not, the last piece of evidence supporting The Riddler should do the trick. Below is a cast photo that David Ayer, the director of Suicide Squad, posted, along with the words of one of the actors in the photo, Ike Barinholtz.

Barinholtz is a comedian, and him following in the footsteps of another comedian who played The Riddler, Batman Forever's Jim Carrey, makes a lot of sense. Yet the only words Barinholtz has shared on his role were in a Buzzfeed interview when he stated,

“I have David Ayer in my head being like, ‘I’m going to kill you if you say anything,’ I can say it’s probably not who you think it is. I can say that he’s definitely someone that people will not like, and he is someone who likes to really mess with people — likes to really hurt people and F them up.”

The Riddler totally likes to mess with people — that's a big part of his whole shtick. Sure, it's a vague answer that could apply to any number of villains, but it seems right. Still, only time (or more leaked content and trailers) will spell out the truth, so happy sleuthing, guys.

Images: DC Entertainment (2), Twitter/DavidAyerMovies