Sylvester Stallone and director/writer James Gunn have collaborated for another comic book movie. The two first worked together on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, where Stallone played Stakar Ogord, one of Yondu’s old Ravager cohorts. Then in November 2020, Stallone revealed he was working on The Suicide Squad, although no details about his role were revealed at the time. Well, it’s a secret no longer, as it’s finally been confirmed that Stallone is the voice of King Shark.
The Suicide Squad’s first trailer finally dropped today, and it was packed with a lot of memorable moments, including the reveal that we’re getting Starro! But in the middle of the preview, King Shark leaves an adorable impression when he raises his hand during a team meeting and simply utters “Hand!”, as seen below. Listen closely, and it sounds an awful lot like Stallone’s voice is coming out of that aquatic monstrosity, who was portrayed on-set by Steve Agree (who’s also appearing in The Suicide Squad as Belle Reve warden John Economos).
But having a good ear isn’t enough; we need confirmation from official sources! Fortunately, after Sylvester Stallone shared The Suicide Squad’s trailer on social media and specifically mentioned that a shark was coming out way, James Gunn confirmed on Twitter that the Rocky actor is indeed voicing King Shark. Stallone was among the popular guesses for the vocal portion of the role, as was Taika Waititi. Now that King Shark is accounted for, perhaps the rumors about the Thor: Love and Thunder actor/filmmaker playing the original Ratcatcher are true.
The Suicide Squad marks King Shark’s second time being adapted for live-action, as he’s been a recurring villain on The CW series The Flash, with David Payne playing him as a human and David Hayter voicing him in humanoid shark form. King Shark’s also gained popularity in recent years as one of the main characters on the Harley Quinn animated series, where he’s voiced by Ron Funches. The Suicide Squad will also be Sylvester Stallone’s third superhero movie outing, because a few months ahead of its release, he’ll star in Samaritan as a famed superhero who went missing decades ago.
In the comics, King Shark, a.k.a. Nanaue, is the son of the DC Universe’s Shark God, a.k.a. “The King of All Sharks.” Whether that origin is intact for The Suicide Squad or they go down a different route with him, three things are clear about King Shark’s role in this movie: he seemingly has a limited vocabulary, he’ll serve nicely as Task Force X’s muscle and he has a taste for human flesh. King Shark has existed in DC Comics lore since 1994 and been tied to the Suicide Squad for about a decade now, so it’s nice to see him finally making his theatrical debut.
But King Shark is just one member of The Suicide Squad’s ensemble cast. The movie’s other colorful characters include returning faces like Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang, as well as plenty of other newcomers, like Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, John Cena’s Peacemaker (who’s also leading his own HBO Max series), David Dastmalchian’s Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchoir’s Ratcatcher 2 and Michael Rooker’s Savant. The story will follow these incarcerated supervillains being sent to the South American island of Corto Maltese to destroy the Nazi-era prison and laboratory known as Jotunheim.
While you’re here, feel free to watch The Suicide Squad’s trailer again to refresh yourself on all the insanity this summer blockbuster has in store.
The Suicide Squad will premiere in both theaters and on HBO Max (which you can subscribe to with this link) on August 6. Browse through our upcoming DC movies guide to learn what else is coming down the DCEU pipeline, and let us know how jazzed you are about the Sylvester Stallone-voiced King Shark being involved in Task Force X’s cinematic return.
This poll is no longer available.
