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James Gunn Explains Why King Shark Isn’t a Hammerhead in The Suicide Squad
Image Credit: Warner Bros.
King Shark’s most recent DC incarnations have been as a hammerhead shark, and James Gunn has explained why they didn’t go that route in The Suicide Squad. Gunn took to Twitter and answered a fan question about why the decision was made to go with the Sylvester Stallone-voiced character as based on a great white shark and not the more recent hammerhead version, explaining that the design was problematic for interacting with other characters.
Gunn wrote:
“I did tests with the hammerhead design, which I love & originally thought I’d use. 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.”
King Shark has become one of fans’ favorite moments from the trailer that released last week, and Gunn talked a bit more about the character’s look, noting:
“But I was insistent on the dad-bod from the beginning as I didn’t think King Shark would have such mammalian body structure.
I love that design & the Harley Quinn show & @RonFunches version, but it was a complete coincidence as we were shooting a year before they debuted. @TheSlyStallone’s version (developed by @steveagee on set) is very different.
Yes, I realize he’s cute: strange since we actively avoided neotenic designs used on cute anthropomorphic beasts to elicit that evolutionary “awww.” Think Baby Groot/Yoda. His eyes are small, not big. His mouth is big, not small. And his head is tiny.”
He went on to add that his conversation with Stallone, who appeared in Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, went:
“I wrote this role for you in The Suicide Squad. It won’t take too much of your time.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. It’s a big, kinda chubby, human-eating shark.”
Laughs. “Anything for you, brother.”
The film stars Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Peter Capaldi, Stallone, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson, David Dastmalchian, Michael Rooker, Taika Waititi, Nathan Fillion, Storm Reid, Daniela Melchior, Steve Agee, Sean Gunn, and JoaquÃn CosÃo and opens on August 6th in theaters and on HBO Max.
But I was insistent on the dad-bod from the beginning as I didn’t think King Shark would have such mammalian body structure.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 27, 2021
Yes, I realize he's cute: strange since we actively avoided neotenic designs used on cute anthropomorphic beasts to elicit that evolutionary "awww." Think Baby Groot/Yoda. His eyes are small, not big. His mouth is big, not small. And his head is tiny. https://t.co/N7tXDCPT7j
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 27, 2021
Yes, King Shark is wearing golf shorts. Those things around him are Clyrax.#TheSuicideSquad pic.twitter.com/3nCKoEMR0A
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 27, 2021
