The Suicide Squad Unveils Giant Starro Statue in London

While most moviegoers in the United States have to wait until August 5 for James Gunn's The [...]

While most moviegoers in the United States have to wait until August 5 for James Gunn's The Suicide Squad to open in theaters, fans in the U.K. will get to see the highly-anticipated DC film starting on Friday, July 30 and it seems like they're getting to get up close and personal with the film's villain, Starro, even sooner. A giant-size Starro is being installed in London's Leicester Square ahead of The Suicide Squad's opening.

On Twitter, journalist Daniel Curtis shared a photo of the massive starfish-like creature, tagging Gunn in the photo and noting that it's "one hell of a marketing stunt." In the photo, you can see that it is indeed the giant Starro seen in previews and footage from The Suicide Squad, standing menacingly over those gathered around both to install the display and those stopping to admire it.

Gunn himself soon after shared a short video of the installation as well, writing "I've loved/been terrified by Starro since I was a little kid & this is blowing my mind." You can check it out for yourself below. Prepare to be amazed.

When it was first revealed that Starro would be a central antagonist for The Suicide Squad, it may have seemed like a baffling choice. In comics, the entity is generally a Justice League villain and also one of DC's sillier-seeming characters, but Gunn previously explained that he's always found the character to be genuinely scary and that the juxtaposition of something as bizarre as Starro into the film was an interesting one.

"Well I just, I wanted a major DC villain that is a major DC villain that people wouldn't expect to be in a movie," Gunn said during a press event attended by ComicBook. "And I've always loved Starro. I mean, as a kid, I found Starro completely terrifying. The idea of this giant starfish with one big guy that shoots these things out of him that take over people's brains, like those old pictures with Superman with him on his face. Always scared the shit out of me. So, it was about taking something that was completely, mind you, ridiculous, that looks, putting him in a setting that is the gritty streets of Cologne, Panama, and then allowing him to do his scary business, but he's also completely outrageous. And so, that mix of things appealed to my aesthetic."

The Suicide Squad opens in theaters on July 30 in the U.K. and on August 5 in the United States.

What do you think about the giant Starro installation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @lifeinpolaroid to talk all things Starro!

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