The Suicide Squad’s Project Starfish, Explained

In James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, Task Force X is sent to Corto Maltese to deal with something called “Project Starfish” in a former Nazi based called Jotunheim, something that teasers for the film reveal has a connection to a giant starfish kaiju named Starro. Now that The Suicide Squad is finally here, the truth about “Project Starfish” and what Task Force X’s mission was really about, and what Starro has to do with it has been revealed. Let’s break it down.

Warning: Spoilers for The Suicide Squad below. If you have not seen the movie and want to remain unspoiled do not read any further! You’ve been warned!

In the film, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) sends Bloodsport’s (Idris Elba) team to Corto Maltese telling them their target is the former Nazi base called Jotunheim, a site where the Project Starfish is being carried out that is a threat to U.S. safety now that the Herera family that had governed Corto Maltese and was non-antagonistic to the U.S. has been ousted. With Project Starfish reportedly extraterrestrial in origin and a major threat to the U.S. and the world now that the new ruling regime is anti-American, Waller wants the team to infiltrate Jotunheim and destroy every trace of Project Starfish.

However, there is a lot more to the story when it comes to Project Starfish. At the center of Project Starfish is a giant, starfish-like alien named Starro the Conquerer and it turns out that the reason Waller wants all traces of it destroyed is because the U.S. is deeply involved. The alien was initially brought to Earth by the American government after being discovered by astronauts. The U.S. has been secretly funding experiments on the alien who can control victims by using smaller versions, or spores, of itself that attach to its victims’ faces and essentially feeds off of them, turning them into extensions of itself. Over the past three decades, the Thinker has carried out horrific experiments with Starro at Jotunheim with the Herrera family sending political dissidents and enemies including men, women, and children, to the base for the disturbing experiments.

It’s the U.S.’s involvement in Project Starfish that is the reason why Waller wants the whole thing destroyed, including the records. She even has Peacemaker (John Cena) tasked with a secondary mission to ensure that the records are destroyed above all else to conceal American involvement. It’s that twist that leads to things getting a little out of hand with Peacemaker killing Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) when Flag decides to preserve the data and expose the government’s actions. Starro is also unintentionally released and soon attacks the military and others on Corto Maltese, declaring the city belongs to them. In the end, however, Bloodsport obtains the drive of evidence and uses it as blackmail against Waller to ensure Task Force X’s release and Starro is killed by Harley Quinn and Ratcatcher 2’s army of rats (with an assist from King Shark), though before the creature dies it tells Ratcatcher 2 via one of its victims that it was happy simply floating in space staring at the stars, reminding everyone that Starro, too, was a victim.

The Suicide Squad is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.