'Suicide Squad': Jai Courtney Talks About Playing Captain Boomerang

Australian actor Jai Courtney, who is to play Captain Boomerang in all-star supervillain film “Suicide Squad,” knew nothing about the DC character before he started filming. Speaking to Spotlight Report, he said his ignorance about the source material made him “cringe.”

“I hadn’t read a script at all when I signed on. We’d met on a couple of occasions and we’d spoken. And, to be honest, when he told me that the role of Captain Boomerang was what he was thinking, I kind of cringed. 'Cause I wasn’t a comic book kid. I wasn’t familiar with the DC universe and the history of that,” Courtney said.

The actor added that he has no idea how his Australian fans will react to his playing Captain Boomerang. In the comics, Captain Boomerang is born to an American soldier and an Australian woman. He is raised in poverty and over the course of time he learns to make boomerangs and to use them as weapons. He is the recurring enemy of Flash and is in a gang called the Rogues. In the beginning, he was shown using American accent but he later developed Australian accent. His alter ego is George "Digger" Harkness and is he also known as Mirror Master.

In the film, Courtney’s Captain Boomerang will have a dark side but he will find a proper balance. “It really gets kind of dark and gritty, and, you know, awesome. So I think what we’re going to create is going to be really, really cool,” Courtney said of the personality of his character.

Written and directed by David Ayer, “Suicide Squad” opens Aug. 5, 2016. The star cast also includes Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Cara Delevingne and Viola Davis. The storyline concerns a set of supervillains and antiheroes who under the guidance of Amanda Waller (Davis) form a squad and execute mission for the U.S. government in exchange for clemency. Smith’s Deadshot will lead the gang consisting of Joker, Harley Quinn, the Enchantress, Rick Flag and others.