Why The Suicide Squad's King Shark Isn't A Hammerhead Like He Is In The Comics

The Suicide Squad director James Gunn has explained why Sylvester Stallone's King Shark's design in the movie is slightly different than his look from the source material. Writing on Twitter, Gunn confirmed that he did in fact conduct tests with King Shark's original hammerhead design, and he thought he might end up using it. However, the fact that the shark's eyes are so far apart made for some "incredibly awkward shooting interactions" with other characters.

"I did tests with the hammerhead design, which I love & originally thought I'd use," he said. "But having eyes on the sides far apart made it incredibly awkward shooting interactions with other people. You couldn't really see him looking at the other person & the shots tended to be too wide."

Gunn also remarked that King Shark was never going to be an incredibly fit or shredded animal; instead, he should have a dad-bod, Gunn said, and that's what made it on the screen.

"I was insistent on the dad-bod from the beginning as I didn't think King Shark would have such mammalian body structure," he said.

Someone else pointed out that King Shark's design from The Suicide Squad resembles that of his look from the Harley Quinn animated show. Gunn said he loves that show and the version of King Shark on it, but it was a "complete coincidence" because his movie started a year before the Harley Quinn show.

Sylvester Stallone voices King Shark in The Suicide Squad. The movie also stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, all reprising their roles from the original David Ayer film.

New to the team are Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Sean Gunn as Weasel, Michael Rooker as Savant, and Peter Capaldi as Thinker.

The film follows a group of incarcerated supervillains who get the chance at freedom and redemption by joining Task Force X--a secret group that takes on suicide missions.

The movie will release simultaneously in theaters and on the streaming service HBO Max on August 6. And you can learn more about why none of your favorite characters are safe in the movie as well as more about the HBO Max spin-off show Peacemaker.