The Suicide Squad remains one of the most durable concepts in the history of DC Comics, thanks to its high-stakes blend of moral ambiguity and expendable protagonists. Since it has been revitalized by writer John Ostrander in the late 1980s, the team—officially known as Task Force X—revolves around a ruthless government mandate that recruits incarcerated supervillains for black-ops missions that are too dangerous or too morally ambiguous for traditional heroes. The core appeal of the property lies in the inherent tension of its premise, as these criminals are fitted with explosive devices in their skulls to ensure total compliance, making every mission a literal life-or-death gamble. While the team was once a comic book staple, its popularity exploded through the cinematic efforts of the DC Extended Universe. Both the street-level approach of David Ayer’s 2016 film and the R-rated chaos of James Gunn’s 2021 The Suicide Squad cemented the idea of a deniable government strike force.
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While mainstream audiences frequently mistake the Thunderbolts for Marvel’s equivalent to the Suicide Squad, this comparison ignores the thematic differences that define both properties in the source material. In the comics, the Thunderbolts were originally conceived as a group of villains posing as heroes to gain public trust during the absence of the Avengers, until some of them realized they liked to be heroes. Subsequent iterations kept the focus toward a genuine path of rehabilitation and civilian-led reform. The release of Thunderbolts* further highlighted this distinction within the Marvel Cinematic Universe by focusing on the found-family dynamics of flawed individuals united by a shared history of trauma and a desire for redemption. Despite this, the recent trajectory of the MCU implies that a version of the Suicide Squad is currently being assembled in the shadows.
Damage Control Is Building Its Own Suicide Squad in the MCU
The recent release of the Wonder Man series on Disney+ significantly expanded the operational scope of the Department of Damage Control (DODC), shifting the organization from a simple cleanup crew into a militarized internal security force. While the DODC previously functioned as a bureaucratic antagonist in Spider-Man: Far From Home and Ms. Marvel, their activities in the 2026 television slate suggest a far more sinister agenda regarding enhanced individuals. During the final episode of Wonder Man, Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) orchestrates a daring break-in at a high-security DODC prison facility to rescue his friend, Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley). As Simon navigates the supermax facility, the camera lingers on a series of cells containing unidentified enhanced inmates, visually establishing that the government has been quietly stockpiling superpowered individuals away from public scrutiny.
That sequence is underscored by a chilling monologue from Agent P. Cleary (Arian Moayed), who has been tracking Simon throughout the season. Cleary explicitly describes the protagonist’s ionic powers as something that could be either a catastrophic national threat or a significant strategic asset. By framing enhanced individuals as “assets,” the DODC is adopting the exact philosophical framework that Amanda Waller uses to justify Task Force X in the DC Universe. Instead of simply rehabilitating or containing these prisoners, the agency is evaluating their utility for its own operations. The implication is that the DODC is no longer content with just monitoring the superhuman community, but they are also building a roster of disposable soldiers who can be deployed to neutralize other perceived threats.
This narrative thread is expected to unfold in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day, where the DODC will return under the leadership of William Metzger (Tramell Tillman). Reports suggest that Metzger’s version of the department is even more aggressive, utilizing advanced technology to hunt down new heroes. By positioning the DODC as a government body that views superhumans as weapons to be wielded, Marvel has effectively introduced a Suicide Squad-style dynamic into the heart of New York City. It’s still too soon to know for sure how this narrative will unfold, but if the DODC becomes a recurring villain, they might become a central piece of the MCU as the Mutants are brought in full into the Sacred Timeline.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is scheduled to be released in theaters on July 31, 2026.
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