David Ayer’s Suicide Squad film has officially begun production, and while the main cast have all been revealed, the roles they’ll be playing have not. As such, a cloud of rumor and speculation still hangs over the film and will only grow as production continues.
Last week, Ayer tweeted out an image of the film’s cast at a table read and present were several faces that had not yet previously been announced: True Blood alum Jim Parrack, The Mindy Project‘s Ike Barinholtz and Flags of our Fathers actor Adam Beach.
Rumor initially broke out that Barinholtz will be playing Dr. Hugo Strange, Beach will play Squad member Slipknot and that Parrack had been cast as Deathstroke the Terminator. After the initial reports, however, Parrack’s role became less clear, as his own girlfriend took to Instagram to tell people that he wasn’t playing the orange and black-clad mercenary, while Parrack himself heavily re-posted Deathstroke fan art from his own social media accounts.
According to TheWrap writer and Meet the Movie Press co-host Jeff Sneider, Parrack is not playing Deathstroke, but has instead landed a lesser-known supporting role:
“The truth behind Jim Parrack’s character in Suicide Squad… I’m told from reliable sources that Jim Parrack is in fact playing Jonny Frost.”
Jonny Frost is a character that appeared in Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo’s 2008 graphic novel, Joker. In the book, Frost is an ambitious up-and-comer in the criminal underworld of Gotham City and becomes the Joker’s personal chauffeur and go-to henchman.
Considering that we’ve heard that the Joker will spend most of his screen time locked up in either Arkham Asylum or Belle Reve Penitentiary, it’ll be interesting to see how Ayer fits a character like Frost into the fold. What’s perhaps even more intriguing is the idea that Ayer may draw inspiration from Azzarello’s Joker for his take on the Clown Prince of Crime. Previous rumors stated that he was looking at Frank Miller’s Joker from The Dark Knight Returns as inspiration. However, blending the two version of the iconic villain could lead to some pretty exciting results.
We’ll find out what Ayer has planned for the Joker when Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 5th, 2016.