James Gunn Debunks Major The Suicide Squad Rumor About Nathan Fillion

If you were hoping to see Nathan Fillion as Arm-Fall-Off-Boy in The Suicide Squad, you’re out of luck. According to Squad director James Gunn, that’s simply not the case. During a set of fan questions the filmmaker answered Saturday afternoon, one eager comics fan asked if Fillion was in fact playing the bizarre DC Comics character. Gunn replied with an answer that was simple enough.

“Nope,” the director responded.

First reported by scooper Charles Murphy last October, many suggested Fillion would be playing the former Legion of Super-Heroes character. As you might suspect, the character’s powers include being able to “rip” his arms off and use them to beat the snot out of those he comes across. The production has been shrouded in secrecy since Gunn boarded the project, something that will serve as a follow-up (not sequel) to David Ayer’s Suicide Squad (2016).

Joining Fillion will be WWE superstar John Cena, who took to an interview last month to praise Gunn’s work on the film. Though it’s yet to be confirmed, Cena is rumored to play Peacemaker in the movie.

“You want to go to work with people who jump out of bed every day and want to go to work,” Cena said. “[Gunn] is the epitome of that. He cares so much about what he’s doing and I think especially when he’s put in a position to write, develop, and do this by his rules essentially. He chose the franchise. He kind of dictated his terms and now he’s really betting on himself and I hope everybody enjoys seeing it as much as we’re enjoying making it because it’s awesome.”

Joining Cena and Fillion include Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag) and Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), and newcomers Peter Capaldi, Idris Elba, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, David Dastmalchian, Storm Reid, Pete Davidson, and Taika Waititi.

The Suicide Squad is set to hit theaters August 6, 2021.

Upcoming DC movies include Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7th, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5th, The Batman on June 25, 2021, Black Adam on December 22, 2021, Shazam! 2 on April 1, 2022, The Flash on July 1, 2022, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.