Daniela Melchior to sharpen her claws as Ratcatcher for The Suicide Squad

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The cheese shall stand alone no longer …

After setting a trap for new characters to enter the franchise, it's been announced that Portuguese actress Daniela Melchior has been cast as Ratcatcher for James Gunn's THE SUICIDE SQUAD for her first major studio role. Created by Alan Grant, John Wagner, and Norm Breyfogle, the vermin-based villain first scurried onto the pages of DC Comics courtesy of Detective Comics #585 (1988). For his debut, Ratcatcher arrived as Otis Flannegan, a super-criminal and enemy to Batman. Beginning as an exterminator in Gotham City, he turned to crime and became a prisoner in Blackgate Penitentiary. He developed the ability to train and communicate with sewer rats, and began controlling an army of small rodents. In addition to this, he wears a gas mask and uses the poison gasses of a pest exterminator. (via dc.fandom.wiki)

Of course, Gunn and Melchior's Ratcatcher will be a gender-swapped version of the character, as the PRAGUE MAYER and MASSA FRESCA alumna joins new castmembers John Cena, David Dastmalchian, and Idris Elba, with Margot Robbie, and Jai Courtney reprising their roles as Harley Quinn and Captain Boomerang, respectively. For a time, Elba was expected to replace Will Smith as the sharp-shooting assassin Deadshot for Gunn's Suicide Squad project, until Variety revealed that he'll be playing a brand-new and yet-to-be-named character instead. In fact, according to aforementioned outlet – who exclusively broke the news about Melchior's casting early Wednesday morning – the new Ratcatcher will have some connection to whomever Elba is expected to play.

In addition to helming GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 3 for Marvel, James Gunn will also write and direct THE SUICIDE SQUAD for DC, which is expected to introduce audiences to a revamped version of the "worst of the worst" in theaters on August 6, 2020.