Suicide Squad writer Rob Williams sat down for an interview in which he discusses his redemption story arc for Deadshot. Williams also discusses the rest of the Suicide Squad and what the future has in store for them.
Suicide Squad issue #41 will begin a new storyline in which Deadshot will try to save his daughter from the clutches of KOBRA. As a member of Suicide Squad, Deadshot is hampered in his efforts thanks to the machinations of team overseer Amanda Waller but, with the help of the Dark Knight Batman, he might just be able to pull this mission off.
If KOBRA wasn’t enough, Waller is none too pleased with Deadshot going off on his own so she decides to send the rest of Suicide Squad after the unlikely duo. This new Suicide Squad roster though will have Enchantress and Croc missing due to recent events (no spoilers here) but will add Captain Cold to an already formidable team.
In an interview with Newsarama, Williams talked about the book and what direction he sees as a revealing facet of Batman’s character. He had this to say:
“This is really Deadshot’s story. It’s a follow-up to a plot thread I began in Trinity #16, whereby Kobra have got a vendetta against Deadshot because Deadshot killed one of their leaders years ago. So in order to get revenge on him, they kidnap Deadshot’s daughter. And Deadshot wants to go after her, but he’s locked up in prison. He begs Waller to let him out and Waller refuses.
But Batman was there in Trinity #16, and this all resonates with Batman, I think because of Damian and how Damian was raised by an insane killer cult. And Batman couldn’t be there and couldn’t save him. So he wants to help Deadshot do this thing, go after his daughter. And then Batman’s going to put Deadshot back in prison. He’s not breaking Deadshot out for any other reason.” Rob Williams, Newsarama, May 10, 2018
Williams also had a couple of things to say about some of the other members of Suicide Squad but his points on Amanda Waller were really interesting. Williams had this to say:
“…in the last arc, you could see where she’s coming from. It doesn’t justify [Amanda Waller’s] actions, but you can see the hurt and the damage that Waller went through, and how she tried to protect her family. She lost three family members in tragic circumstances. That doesn’t justify what she does. But she’s willing to make the tough choices. She could so easily be a supervillain. And she almost is.”
Most fans would be the first to tell you that the key to a great villain or antagonist is a character whose actions are understood by the readers. Not justified but understood. It’s great to hear Williams take that approach to Waller.
One more interesting note on the interview is how Williams did touch on something hardcore readers know already. The grind of producing a bi-monthly book and the challenge of not diminishing the quality of the book. Williams had this to say when asked about having to work sometimes with a different artist:
“…because we’ve been going at this with two issues a month, it’s impossible to have one artist solidly on the book.”
Although it’s tough, Williams did speak to the great work of guest artists:
“This issue [#41] was Eduardo Pansica, who’s been with us for a little while now, and he’s terrific.”
