What to Expect from the Enchantress in 'Suicide Squad' 

Suicide Squad will automatically be the best summer blockbuster when it hits theaters in August. It also seems to have nearly as many characters as Game of Thrones — though luckily the costumes are more distinctive than beards and furs. Even so, for casual fans who aren’t comic aficionados, there are a lot of names being tossed around. We all know the Joker; some know Harley Quinn, but who the hell are The Enchantress, Deadshot, Killer Croc, Katana, Rick Flagg, and Captain Boomerang? And should you bother trying to learn who they are, or just accept that your comic book friends will know and you can ask them in whispers while enjoying the Joker’s sweet new ride?

But don’t worry, you don’t need to risk movie theater glares when you whisper to your friends. In the weeks leading up to Suicide Squad’s August release, we’ll be helping you out with tutorials on the different characters, beginning with The Enchantress.

The Enchantress is played by supermodel Cara Delevingne. She made her first comic-book appearance way back in 1966, in issue 187 of a DC comic called Strange Adventures, and since her mid-sixties birth, she’s always been, well, strange.

Her casting in Suicide Squad is interesting in and of itself because, Delevinge has little experience acting and this film will therefore be the litmus test for whether she’s truly got the chops. Models turned actors actually have a pretty good track record, so she’ll be in good company. Even so, there are stakes to her performance just as there are stakes to this film’s ability to prove DC can be fun, too.

The Enchantress is no trivial role, because she is going to be the film’s villain. We know this because she is suspiciously absent from squad group photos.

And the trailer featured her sinister magical goop clinging to the columns of the abandoned cityscape the rest of the squad is running around. Everyone knows that sinister black goop means trouble. Though the black goop isn’t canon to the comics, Enchantress does demonstrate an energy manipulation ability in most of her appearances, so it’s likely this goop is just related to that.

She is intangible (can walk through walls), and can both project and construct new materials from “energy”, though in her early comics she’s not in control of her abilities. That ominous black goop, then, probably means she’s throwing energy at the wall to see what sticks.

And because she was whispering in Squad leader Rick Flagg’s ear in a sinister and overly breathy manner, suggesting she might be corrupting him.

And because, I mean, just look at her face. Even though everyone in the squad is a villain with some degree of crazy-eyes going on, she has the craziest eyes of all. This is not the face of someone who isn’t aiming to fuck some shit up. That expression does not say, “I’ve got an idea, why don’t we start a book club!”

But intriguingly, she will not begin the story as a villain. Her original identity is an artsy young woman named June Moone who attends a costume party in a castle, gets curious about a creepy secret chamber, and ends up possessed by a witch. Don’t you just hate it when that happens?

The film looks like it might tweak this in favor of giving her an interest in urban exploring — so if your comic-knowing friends grumble about the lack of castle party, now you’ll know what they’re salty about — but the end result is the same.

June is possessed by a supernatural entity and subsequently develops an interest for metal bikinis, yarmulkes, steampunk jewelry, and magical black goop. The rest is history.

Now, depending on what comic book storyline the movie choses, The Enchantress might be part of the Squad, only to succumb to her dark side and fuck up the mission. Or, she could lose control of her powers early on in the film, act as the villain, and eventually be accepted into the group once Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) promises to help control her demons, and goo.