The Suicide Squad finally redeemed Rick Flag, once and for all.
The How The Suicide Squad Finally Redeems Rick Flag is a good article that discusses how the film finally redeemed the character of Rick Flag.
The Suicide Squad, directed by James Gunn, has finally arrived in cinemas and on HBO Max, and with its arrival, many fans’ concerns about the picture have been addressed. One of the greatest concerns going into The Suicide Squad was how the film — which isn’t quite a sequel or reboot of David Ayer’s 2016 film Suicide Squad — will handle its predecessor, especially the handful of characters that appeared in both. One of the things that The Suicide Squad accomplished, it turns out, was to finally redeem Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag.
Warning: This section contains spoilers for The Suicide Squad. If you haven’t watched the film yet, please do so now.
To say Rick Flag wasn’t very appealing in David Ayer’s 2016 Suicide Squad would be an understatement. Flag is only there in that film because he needs to be. He’s angry, cynical, and has nothing but disdain for Task Force X members, seeing only the bad in them. Yes, he adores Dr. June Moone and doesn’t always agree with Amanda Waller’s tactics, but he’s not exactly a heroic or sympathetic figure.
That changes in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, and Kinnaman himself has expressed gratitude for the chance to totally reimagine the character. He seems to be more comfortable throughout the film, but it’s obvious that he isn’t entirely trusting of Waller. He also shows respect for the individuals who have been assigned to his team. When the identity of Weasel is called into doubt on the way to Corto Maltese, Blackguard freaks out, so Flag steps in to defend Weasel and proclaim him harmless — as harmless as someone who has murdered a lot of children can be. After learning that Harley Quinn escaped the beach ambush but has been kidnapped by the Corto Maltese regime, he refuses to abandon her and diverts Task Force X’s whole objective to save her.
The most redeeming aspect of Flag in The Suicide Squad is his reaction to learning the truth about the team’s goal. Task Force X is dispatched to Corto Maltese to destroy the island’s former Nazi research facility as well as all traces of the dangerous Project Starfish being carried out there with Flag, with the squad being warned that whatever it is could be extremely dangerous to the United States and the entire world. In fact, Project Starfish is a US government-funded operation that has tortured many innocent individuals for decades in order to test the extraterrestrial Starro the Conqueror. The true motivation for Waller’s desire to destroy Jotunheim is to conceal America’s participation.
Flag can’t take it any longer, so he saves the hard disk holding proof of America’s participation, intending to expose it to the rest of the world now that he knows he’s been duped from the start. Unfortunately, Peacemaker was entrusted with a covert mission to destroy that proof by any means necessary, and in the end, Peacemaker kills Flag, despite the fact that he fights to defend and expose the truth.
When Waller orders the other squad members to stand down rather than attempt to rescue Corto Maltese from Starro, he dies a hero, and his death inspires the remaining squad members to rise against Waller as well. It’s a surprising, but welcome, comeback for the character.
The Suicide Squad is now in cinemas and available on HBO Max.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to June Moone and Rick flag?
June Moone and Rick flag are two of the main characters in the book, Ready Player One.
Does Rick flag come back to life?
The Rick flag does not come back to life, but it is possible to revive the Rick flag in-game.
Who is Colonel Rick Flag?
Colonel Rick Flag is a character in the DC Universe. He was originally introduced as one of the Suicide Squad, an anti-hero team of supervillains who work for the government and often carry out dangerous missions in exchange for reduced prison sentences.
