James Gunn's 'The Suicide Squad': All you need to know about Polka-Dot Man, the costumed criminal from Batman's rogue's gallery
James Gunn's 'The Suicide Squad' will have a few villains and one of them is the Polka-Dot Man. The villain is one of the most dubious members in Batman's rogues gallery and while he has his box of deadly toys, he never really rose through the Gotham underworld ranks. We don't know if it has anything to do with the ridiculous name of the costume, but here's a quick read of who he is, and what's he got up his sleeve.
The Polka-Dot Man was first seen in Detective Comics #300 in February 1962 as Abner Krill. He was one of the many costumed criminals who took on Batman with the hope of making a name for himself and proving himself superior. He shot to fame with a string of robberies and was eventually bought to justice by Robin. Incidentally, his first outing as a costumed criminal was his most successful but after he failed to replicate the success that his first costume brought him, he was reduced to robbing grocery stores armed with just a baseball bat. He then saw himself pledge his service to Doom Patrol enemy General Immortus and other such masters and finally died while pursuing the Human Flame.
Like Batman, the C-List hero has no superpowers, but what he does have is an array of gadgets that are stored upon his costume as a series of adhesive dots. At any stage, when a tool is needed, all he needs is to rip off the dot off his super suit and the tool expands to his full size.
These devices are further manipulated through the controls contained within the belt of the Polka-Dot Man's costume. The dots have some effective devices such as teleportation pads, mini-fists, circular saw blades and even automated vehicles like his floating bubbles and flying saucers. All these give a hint of the man he is and rather than use them for profit, he uses these for crimes. It'd still be fun to see him on-screen using a few of these gizmos though.
Actor David Dastmalchian has been roped in to play Polka-Dot Man and he has a few superhero movies and series appearances under his belt. He was seen in Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight'. He was part of MCU's 'Ant-Man' and 'Ant-Man and The Wasp' and later showed up in comic-themed projects such as 'Gotham' and 'The Flash'.
At the moment it is still unclear about what's in store for the Polka-Dot Man in Gunn's 'The Suicide Squad'. Given the gizmos at his disposal and his mind that could concoct these toys, he might just have an important role in the upcoming installment.
Gunn's 'The Suicide Squad' will release on August 6, 2021.