James Gunn makes his DC debut with The Suicide Squad, and he brought a bunch of colleagues over from Marvel with him. The cast of the standalone Task Force X sequel includes two of the Guardians of the Galaxy – Sean Gunn (playing both Weasel and Calendar Man) and Michael Rooker (as Savant). It’s also known that Dave Bautista would’ve been in it, but he passed to make Netflix’s Army of the Dead. There is another MCU star who has a secret, easily-missed cameo in the film, though. And here’s how to spot them. Warning, spoilers ahead…
The secret Guardian hidden in The Suicide Squad is Pom Klementieff AKA Mantis. Some way into the movie, the team have been tasked with kidnapping The Thinker (Peter Capaldi) while he makes his regular stop at a local nightclub in Corto Maltese. The likes of Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena) and Ratcatcher II (Daniela Melchior) arrive at the club before him and let loose. During this scene, there’s a brief shot of the club’s singer (Klementieff).
Gunn revealed in an interview that he was shocked more people hadn’t noticed Klementieff’s cameo already, which is fair enough as it’s obviously her, with the Avengers: Endgame actress clearly framed in shot, even if she’s only on screen for a handful of seconds. The reason it slipped a lot of people by is likely due to how audiences are most familiar with the star under the transformative make-up she wears to play the MCU’s Mantis. Typically, hidden cameos see actors mask their faces somehow, but Klementieff didn’t need to as she hides her normal appearance in her most famous role.
Pom Klementieff will next team up with James Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which will mark her fourth time playing Mantis. The threequel is expected to shoot later this year, before hitting theaters in May 2023. Meanwhile, The Suicide Squad is in theaters and on HBO Max from today.