The Suicide Squad: Joel Kinnaman Says Rick Flag Is “Completely Different” (Exclusive)

Next month will see the long-awaited debut of The Suicide Squad, and it’s safe to say that fans are excited to see what the DC film has in store. In addition to an array of new characters, the film will see a few returning veterans from 2016’s Suicide Squad, including Joel Kinnaman‘s take on Rick Flag. While the long-running DC Comics character was portrayed as a staunch military man in the first film, it sounds like viewers are in for a “completely different” version of him. As Kinnaman recently explained to ComicBook.com‘s Brandon Davis, he gets to create a “warmer” and “a little bit more idealistic” version of Rick Flag.

“It was a completely different version of the character,” Kinnaman revealed in the interview, which you can check out in the video above. “I got to flex some comedic muscles, and it was a much looser and I think also warmer version of the character that I think connected much more with the other characters around. A little less cynical of the world and a little bit more idealistic. And yeah, I personally just felt a lot more loose in this version than I did in the first one.”

Kinnaman has been vocal about his appreciation for writer-director James Gunn’s take on the DC mythos, previously arguing that the film is “one of the most entertaining films [he’s] ever seen.”

“It just takes it to another level,” Kinnaman explained to Variety in an interview last month. “It’s an insane film. At the same time, it was very much the movie that I thought it was going to be because the vision was so clear from the beginning. While we were shooting it, it was so clear what we were doing. It’s so entertaining. I’m of course hopelessly biased, but I found it to be one of the most entertaining films I’ve ever seen. From A to Z, it’s so well-paced, it has such a drive and such comedic timing. It’s funny along the way the whole time, effortlessly. But then I think what really surprised me was I was struck by was how well it flowed, but also how he was able to create these little bubbles, these little moments of emotional depth, and visual and emotional poetry. And I felt like it really transcended the genre, and it became something bigger. And then it’s also very silly, and ridiculous in many ways, and super violent. Just gory almost at times. And it has shocking moments, but they are very comedic. At the end of the movie, it’s completely normal seeing this giant shark just standing gnawing on a person’s head, and some of the people just having a conversation next to it… When you’re one hour and 50 minutes into Suicide Squad, that’s going to feel completely normal. It’s so irreverent.”

In The Suicide Squad, welcome to hell — a.k.a. Bell Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out — even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin, and everyone’s favorite pyscho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.

The Suicide Squad will be released in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6th.