Weighing in at 914 pages, Simon Heffer’s The Age of Decadence certainly qualifies as a Big Fat Book (a book with 500+ pages). I’ve always been interested in the growth of the British Empire and Heffer’s tome presents the time period in glorious detail.

One of the characters that I admire in the 1880-1914 years is Oscar Wilde. He was wild and crazy and talented. “On his first visit to America in 1982 (when he is alleged to have said he had nothing to declare except his genius)…” (p. 22). Wilde pops up in various chapters to interject levity…or to be persecuted.

Simon Heffer doesn’t spare the Royal Family. He skewers Albert Edward mercilessly. “By 1890 the Prince, then nearly forty, was an accomplished adulterer and glutton, the former hobby noted by his circle (and his wife) but never publicly remarked upon, and the latter earning him the nickname ‘Tum-tum’.” (p. 87)

Along with fascinating stories of the great people of that age, Heffer engages in some cultural anthropology, too. “One of the great evils of working-class life–as well as one of its main recreations–was drink. Karl Marx said that drink was the curse of the working classes: Wilde that work was curse of the drinking classes.” (p. 173)

The Age of Decadence is the best book of history that I’ve read about these critical years in British and World History. I highly recommend it! Are you a fan of History? GRADE: A

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Prologue: Swagger 1

Part I The World of the Late Victorians

1 The Decline of the Pallisers 39

2 The Rise of the Pooters 118

3 The Workers’ Struggle 169

Part II Coming Storms

4 Imperial Tensions 213

5 Ireland 270

6 The Death of God 336

7 The Civilising Mission 363

8 Protecting Women 392

Part III Public Debates, Public Doubts

9 The Future 419

10 Nostalgia 442

11 Imperial Consequences 474

12 Art and Life 497

13 The Uses of Literacy 534

Part IV Strife

14 Men and Power 561

15 Dukes and Dreadnoughts 596

16 The Great Unrest 651

17 Votes for Women 707

18 Rebellion 769

Envoi: One Afternoon of Heat 825

Bibliography 827

Notes 839

Index 863

Picture Acknowledgements 899

Nanci Griffith, a singer who straddled the genres of folk, folk rock, and country western music, died on August 13, 2021. She was 68 years old. No cause of death was given, but Griffith battled breast cancer and thyroid cancer in the 1990s; perhaps one of them returned.

I own about a dozen Nanci Griffith CDs and have enjoyed them all. I’m featuring Flyer from 1994 because the title song includes the lines:

He was a flyer for the Air Force
On a plane from San Antonio
I was traveling to London
He was going off to Buffalo

There are plenty of other songs to like on Flyer. I’m fond of “Don’t Forget About Me” with Mark Knopfler’s guitar work. “Fragile” is very pretty with a choir that includes Emmylou Harris, another favorite of mine.

I’ll miss Nanci Griffith, knowing her crystal clear voice and her wonderful songs only exist on disc now. Anyone who dies at 68 is leaving us too soon. GRADE: A

Tracklist:

1		The Flyer	4:23
2		Nobody’s Angel Harmony Vocals – Adam Duritz	4:15
3		Say It Isn’t So	3:19
4		Southbound Train	4:32
5		These Days In An Open Book	3:33
6		Time Of Inconvenience	3:49
7		Don’t Forget About Me Electric Guitar – Mark Knopfler Vocals [Supporting] – Pat McLaughlin	2:59
8		Always Will	2:42
9		Going Back To Georgia	4:16
10		Talk To Me While I’m Listening Harmony Vocals – Adam Duritz	4:13
11		Fragile Choir – Emmylou Harris,  Holly Tashian,  Lee Satterfield,  Pam Rose	3:26
12		On Grafton Street	4:03
13		Anything You Need But Me	3:07
14		Goodnight To A Mother’s Dream	4:03
15		This Heart	3:25

Angus Fletcher’s Wonderworks is a browser’s delight! Each chapter in this book explores a different literary technique. Fletcher presents the history of the technique, how it was developed, and how it is used in contemporary fiction.

Dan would certainly enjoy Chapter 8 on Hamlet and Deb would find new insights in Chapter 15 on Middlemarch. I never saw the connection between Jane Austen and Henry Fielding until I read Chapter 11.

Angus Fletcher’s wide reading brings Eastern classics into focus. Including Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness shows how genres influence one another.

I found Wonderworks a fascinating reinterpretation of classic Literature writing with wit and passion. Highly recommended! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

PREFACE: A Heaven of Inventions — 1

INTRODUCTION: The Lost Technology — 13

CHAPTER 1: Rally Your Courage: Homer’s Iliad and the Invention of the Almighty Heart — 29

CHAPTER 2: Rekindle The Romance: SAPPHO’S Lyrics, the Odes of Eastern Zhou, and the Invention of the Secret Discloser — 43

CHAPTER 3: Exit Anger: The Book of Job, Sophocles’s Oedipus Tyrannus, and the Invention of the Empathy Generator — 57

CHAPTER 4: Float Above Hurt: AESOP’S Fables, Plato’s Meno, and the Invention of the Serenity Elevator — 71

CHAPTER 5: Excite Your Curiosity: The Epic of Sundiata, the Modern Thriller, and the Invention of the Tale Told from Our Future — 83

CHAPTER 6: Free Your Mind: Dante’s Inferno, Machiavelli’s Innovatori, and the Invention of the Vigilance Trigger — 97

CHAPTER 7: Jettison Your Pessimism: GIOVANNI STRAPAROLA, the original Cinderella, and the Invention of the Fairy Tail Twist — 107

CHAPTER 8: Heal From Grief: – Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the Invention of the Sorrow Resolver — 125

CHAPTER 9: Banish Despair: John Donne’s “Songs” and the Invention of the Mind-Eye Opener — 139

CHAPTER 10: Achieve Self-Acceptance: – Can Zuequin’s Dream of the Red Chamber, Zhuangzi’s “The Tale of Wonton,” and the Invention of the Butterfly Immerser — 153

CHAPTER 11: Ward Off Heartbreak: Jane Austen, Henry Fielding, and the Invention of the Valentine Armor — 167

CHAPTER 12: Energize Your Life: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Modern-Meta Horror, and the Invention of the Stress Transformer — 183

CHAPTER 13: Solve Every Mystery: Francis Bacon, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Invention of the Virtual Scientist — 195

CHAPTER 14: Become Your Better Self: Frederick Douglass, Saint Augustine, Jean-Jaques Rousseau, and the Invention of the Life Evolver — 211

CHAPTER 15: Bounce Back From Failure: George Elliot’s Middlemarch and the Invention of the Gratitude Multiplier — 227

CHAPTER 16: Clear Your Head: “Rashomon,” Julius Caesar, and the Invention of the Second Look — 241

CHAPTER 17: Find Peace Of Mind: Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, James Joyce, and the Invention of the Riverbank of Consciousness — 251

CHAPTER 18: Feed Your Creativity: Winnie-the-Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, and the Invention of the Anarchy Rhymer — 273

CHAPTER 19: Unlock Salvation: To Kill a Mockingbird, Shakespeare’s Soliloquy Breakthrough, and the Invention of the Humanity Connector — 287

CHAPTER: 20: Renew Your Future: Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, and the Invention of Revolution Rediscovery — 301

CHAPTER 21: Decide Wiser: Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, Thomas More’s Utopia, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, and the Invention of the Double Alien — 311

CHAPTER 22: Believe In Yourself: Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and the Invention of the Choose Your Own Accopmplice — 327

CHAPTER 23: Unfreeze Your Heart: Alison Bechdel, Euripides, Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot, and the Invention of the Clinical Joy — 341

CHAPTER 24: Live Your Dream: Tina Fey’s 30 Rock, a Dash of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” and the Invention of the Wish Triumphant — 353

CHAPTER 25: Lessen Your Lonely: Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend, Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, and the Invention of the Childhood Opera — 367

Conclusion: Inventing Tomorrow — 387

Coda: The Secret History Of This Book — 391

Acknowledgements — 401

Notes on Translations, Sources, and Further Reading — 403

Index — 423

The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Eighth Series is the last of the anthologies in this series that Anthony Boucher edited. And, he goes out with a bang! I enjoyed Fritz Leiber’s “A Deskful of Girls” (which reminded me of Mitt Romney’s “binders full of women” comment (you can check it out here). I’ve always liked Brian W. Aldiss’s “Poor Little Warrior.” Shirley Jackson is represented by “The Omen.”

C. M. Kornbluth is honored by a memoriam, a “Memorial Bibliography,” and the inclusion of his short story, “Theory of Rocketry.”

Zenna Henderson’s The People story, “Captivity,” shows the damage isolation can cause. The most famous story in this anthology is Alfred Bester’s classic time travel tale, “The Men Who Murdered Mohammed.” I’ve been entertained by all 8 of Anthony Boucher’s The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction anthologies and look forward to the next entries in the series. GRADE: A-

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• 9 • Introduction (Best from F&SF 8) • (1959) • essay by Anthony Boucher
• 13 • Ministering Angels • (1955) • short story by C. S. Lewis
• 24 • Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot (January 1958) • [Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot • 7] • (1958) • short story by Reginald Bretnor (variant of Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot: VII) [as by Grendel Briarton]
• 25 • Backwardness • (1958) • short story by Poul Anderson
• 37 • The Wait • (1958) • short story by Kit Reed
• 54 • Origin of the Species • (1958) • poem by Karen Anderson
• 55 • The Up-to-Date Sorcerer • (1958) • short story by Isaac Asimov
• 70 • Epithalamium • (1958) • poem by Doris Pitkin Buck (variant of Epithalaminium)
• 71 • A Deskful of Girls • [Change War] • (1958) • novelette by Fritz Leiber
• 101 • Eripmav • (1958) • short story by Damon Knight
• 102 • The Watchers • (1958) • poem by Anthony Brode
• 103 • Poor Little Warrior! • (1958) • short story by Brian W. Aldiss
• 109 • The Better Bet • (1958) • poem by Anthony Brode
• 110 • The Omen • (1958) • short story by Shirley Jackson
• 126 • Ye Phantasie Writer and His Catte • (1958) • poem by Winona McClintic
• 127 • Gil Braltar • (1958) • short story by Jules Verne (trans. of Gil Braltar 1887)
• 134 • In Memoriam: Henry Kuttner • (1958) • poem by Karen Anderson
• 135 • The Grantha Sighting • (1958) • short story by Avram Davidson
• 145 • Theory of Rocketry • (1958) • short story by C. M. Kornbluth
• 161 • C. M. Kornbluth: A Memorial Bibliography • [Recommended Reading] • (1958) • essay by Anthony Boucher (variant of Recommended Reading: C. M. Kornbluth, A Memorial Bibliography)
• 163 • A New Lo! • (1958) • essay by Ron Goulart
• 166 • Gorilla Suit • (1958) • short story by John Shepley
• 175 • Captivity • [The People] • (1958) • novella by Zenna Henderson
• 225 • The Men Who Murdered Mohammed • (1958) • short story by Alfred Bester
• 239 • Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot (August 1958) • [Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot • 8] • (1958) • short story by Reginald Bretnor (variant of Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot: VIII) [as by Grendel Briarton]
• 240 • Valise Macabre • (1957) • poem by Winona McClintic

Back in the 1960s, I loved Lou Rawls, especially when he sang “Love Is a Hurtin’ Thing” and “Dead End Street (Parts 1 & 2). I loved Rawls’ habit of doing a gritty monologue before some songs like “Dead End Street” and then busting into song.

Later in his career with 60 albums and sales of over 40 million records, Lou Rawls specialized in Easy Listening hits like “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” (Grammy Winner: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1978). But I prefer Rawls’ early soul songs. Are you a fan of Lou Rawls and his music? Do you remember these songs? GRADE: A

Tracklist:

1		Red Top	2:02
2		Just Squeeze Me (But Don’t Tease Me)	2:43
3		You’re The One	2:34
4		Dead End Street (Parts 1 & 2)	3:57
5		Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing	2:12
6		Bring It On Home	2:57
7		Another Saturday Night	2:20
8		Righteous Woman (Monologue)/I Wanna Little Girl	4:22
9		Tobacco Road	3:58
10		How Long, How Long Blues	3:14
11		Your Good Thing (Is About To End)	4:25
12		I Wonder	2:36
13		A Whole Lotta Woman	2:40

HEART OF SOUL SERIES (EMI)

		Peabo Bryson	I’m So Into You – The Passion Of Peabo Bryson ‎(CD, Comp)	7243 8 5718 2 9	1997
		Enchantment	If You’re Ready… The Best Of Enchantment (Comp) 2 versions	7243 8 34401 2 2	1996
		Enchantment	If You’re Ready… The Best Of Enchantment ‎(Cass, Comp)	7243 8 34401 4-6	1996
		The O’Jays	In Bed With The O’Jays : Their Greatest Love Songs (Comp) 2 versions	7243 8 38306 2 6	1996
		Ike & Tina Turner	What You Hear Is What You Get (Live At Carnegie Hall) (Album) 4 versions	7243 8 38309 2 3	1996
		Various	Sex & Soul Volume One ‎(CD, Comp)	7243 8 38310 2 9	1996
		Bobby Womack	The Soul Of Bobby Womack : Stop On By ‎(CD, Comp)	7243 8 53965 2 6	1996
		René & Angela	The Best Of René & Angela : Come My Way ‎(CD, Comp)	7243 8 53967 2 4	1996
		René & Angela	The Best Of René & Angela : Come My Way ‎(Cass, Comp)	7243-8-53967-4 8	1996
		Ashford & Simpson	The Gospel According To Ashford & Simpson: Count Your Blessings (Comp) 3 versions	7243 8 53968 2 3	1996
		Ashford & Simpson	The Gospel According To Ashford & Simpson: Count Your Blessings ‎(Cass, Comp)	7243 8 53968 4 7	1996
		Various	Sex & Soul Volume 2 ‎(CD, Comp)	7243 8 55261 2 1	1996
		Various	Sex & Soul Volume 3 ‎(CD, Comp)	7243 8 55334 2 6	1996
		Tavares	It Only Takes A Minute: A Lifetime With Tavares ‎(CD, Comp, RM)	7243 8 55345 2 2	1996
		A Taste Of Honey	Beauty And The Boogie ‎(CD, Comp)	7243 8 57179 2 5	1997
		Peabo Bryson	I’m So Into You (The Passion Of Peabo Bryson) ‎(Cass, Comp, RM)	7243-8-57182-4-3	1997
		Bobby Womack	The Soul Of Bobby Womack : Stop On By ‎(CD, Comp)	7243 8 53965 2 6, E2-53965	1996
		Bobby Womack	The Soul Of Bobby Womack : Stop On By ‎(Cass, Comp)	7243-8-53965-4-0, E2-53965	1996
		Natalie Cole	This Will Be Natalie Cole’s Everlasting Love (Comp) 2 versions	C2-38308	1997
		Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose	The Story Of Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose: Too Late To Turn Back Now ‎(CD, Comp, Club)	CDP 553966	1996
		Tavares	It Only Takes A Minute: A Lifetime With Tavares ‎(CD, Comp, Club)	CDP 555345	1996
		A Taste Of Honey	Beauty And The Boogie ‎(CD, Comp, Club)	CDP 557179	1997
		Various	Sex & Soul Volume One ‎(CD, Comp, Club)	D 115748	1996
		Freddie Jackson	For Old Times Sake: The Freddie Jackson Story ‎(CD, Comp)	E2-38307	1996
		Various	Sex & Soul Volume Two ‎(CD, Comp, Club)	E2-55261	1996
		Tavares	It Only Takes A Minute: A Lifetime With Tavares ‎(CD, Comp)	E2-55345	1996
		A Taste Of Honey	Beauty And The Boogie ‎(CD, Comp)	E2-57179	1997
		Lou Rawls	Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing: The Silk & Souls Of Lou Rawls (Comp) 2 versions	E2-57181	1997
		Lou Rawls	Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing: The Silk & Souls Of Lou Rawls ‎(CD, Comp)	E2-57181	1997
		Lou Rawls	Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing: The Silk & Souls Of Lou Rawls ‎(CD, Comp, Promo)	E2-57181	1997
		Peabo Bryson	I’m So Into You (The Passion Of Peabo Bryson) ‎(CD, Comp, RM)	E2-57182	1997

Veronica Geng was on the staff of The New Yorker from 1975 to 1993 and wrote reviews, short stories, and comedic articles. Love Trouble was recommended in the Wall Street Journal so I found a copy and read it.

My favorite piece in Love Trouble is Geng’s “Macdonald,” (p. 167) a snarky “Introduction” to the Da Capo Press edition of Dwight Macdonald’s Parodies. Geng was stuck on how to approach to writing the “Introduction” when Donald Fagan suggested, “Why don’t you pretend you think he’s John D. MacDonald?” This tapped into Geng’s affection for the Travis McGee novels so she went with it. Very funny and clever!

My only quibble with Love Trouble is that many of the pieces involve politicians and celebrities who have faded away. Those articles and stories aged badly. But, there’s plenty here that are still funny and brilliant! GRADE: B

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction / Ian Frazier — xi
Partners (1984)
Report from Your Congressman — 3
Lulu in Washington — 8
My Mao — 14
Ten Movies That Take Women Seriously — 19
The Sixth Man — 29
Partners — 32
Buon Giorno, Big Shot — 34
A Man Called Jose — 36
Petticoat Power — 39
What Makes Them Tick — 45
More Mathematical Diversions — 47
James at an Awkward Age — 52
Teaching Poetry Writing to Singles — 55
The Stylish New York Couples — 60
Masterpiece Tearjerker — 62
Serenade — 67
Curb Carter Policy Discord Effort Threat — 76
Kemp, Dent in Reagan Plans — 77
The Reagan History of the United States — 80
Pac Hits Fan — 84
The Sacred Front — 87
The Revised Dictionary of Slang and Uncontrollable English — 102
Coming Apart at the Semes — 105
Record Review — 111
Indecent Indemnity — 116
Now at West Egg — 124
Supreme Court Roundup — 126
Lobster Night — 129
Pepys’s Secret Diaries! — 136
Love Trouble is my Business (1988)
The New Thing — 141
Tribute — 146
Love Trouble Is My Business — 149
Totaled — 152
Secret Ballot — 155
Our Side of the Story — 159
Macdonald — 164
For Immediate Release — 168
Canine Chateau — 174
The Buck Starts Here — 180
Settling an Old Score — 182
The Twi-Night Zone — 193
Codicil — 200
The 1985 Beaujolais Nouveaux: Ka-Boum! — 203
Equal Time — 207
Remorse — 210
Mario Cabot’s School Days — 215
What Happened — 219
Hands Up — 224
More Unwelcome News — 226
Poll — 234
My and Ed’s Peace Proposals — 238
Pat Robertson’s Catalogue Essay for a New Exhibition of Paintings / David Salle — 240
A Lot in Common — 244
New Stories (1987-1996)
Not an Endorsement — 255
Man and His Watch — 258
Summer Session — 261
My Ideal — 268
Nowhere to Run — 272
Post-Euphoria — 278

Salt of Life — 281

Faculty Lounge Surveillance Tapes — 287

The Cheese Stands Alone — 290

Primes Suspects, U.S.A. — 292

Testing, Testing… — 295

Makes the Going Great — 297

A Good Man Is Hard to Keep: The Correspondence of Flannery O’Connor and S. J. Perelman (with Garrison Keillor) — 300

My Dream Team — 304

La Cosa Noshtra — 310

I’m always curious about how movies, TV shows, plays, and songs are made. Disney+ now offers a look into the MARVEL Universe with three documentaries (so far):

The Making of WandaVision

The Making of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

The Making of Loki 

My favorite of these three documentaries is The Making of Loki. I’m a big fan of Tom Hiddleston and his 10-year history playing Loki provides fascinating insights into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and what’s coming next.

If you want to see what happens behind the scenes, Marvel Studios: Assembled shows you the nuts and bolts of producing these series. Rumors abound that the next documentary will be The Making of Black Widow. GRADE: B+

I know the Pandemic isn’t over and the Delta Variant is running wild (mostly in the South), but I decided to take a walk down Memory Lane with Lawrence Wright and revisit the horrors of 2020.

CHAPTER ONE, “It’s Going to Be Just Fine,” brings back the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak in China, Europe, and America. Our politicians assured us it was No Big Deal. Lawrence Wright identifies the three opportunities we had to stop the Pandemic. We failed all three times. Three strikes and…600,000+ deaths in the U.S. And growing.

Wright also documents the tragic politicalization of the Pandemic: the fight over masking, social distancing, and following the science. We’re seeing that today as the Delta Variant spreads and people resist vaccination.

If you want a canny history of the Plague Year, Lawrence Wright provides a detailed, well-written guide to a hellish year. I’m so happy we all survived! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Prologue 3

1 “Its Going to Be Just Fine” 17

2 The Trickster 30

3 Spike 39

4 “An Evolving Situation” 59

5 “Flatten the Curve” 78

6 “It’s Coming to You” 92

7 “Nothing Can Stop What’s Coming” 119

8 The Doom Loop 137

9 “Let It Be March” 154

10 “Its Like a Wind” 165

11 Bellevue 174

12 The No Plan Plan 188

13 Little Africa 212

14 The Mission of Wall Street 222

15 The Man Without a Mask 239

16 Waves 262

17 I Can’t Breathe 270

18 Tulsa 289

19 Thelma and Louise 297

20 The Hedgehog and the Fox 307

21 Dark Shadows 324

22 The Rose Garden Cluster 338

23 The Search for Patient Zero 349

24 Survivors 368

25 Surrender 387

Epilogue 408

Acknowledgments and Notes on Sources 439

Notes 451

Index 511

I’ll watch Kate Beckinsale in anything. In her latest action movie, Jolt, Beckinsale plays Lindy–a woman with extreme impulse control issues. Her weird psychiatrist, Stanley Tucci, designs a bizarre electrical apparatus that Lindy wears under her clothing. When Lindy feels the urge to lash out and punch someone, she presses a button that delivers a jolt of electricity that helps her to regain control.

When Lindy experiences the death of a friend, she goes on a rampage of vengeance. Director Tanya Wexler keeps the acton amped up while mixing in some humor as two cops (Bobby Cannavale and Laverne Cox) try to stop Lindy’s tumultuous spree.

The script by Scott Wascha unleashes a whirlwind of rage with Lindy’s attack on killers of her friend. I’m hoping this is just the first movie in a series. Lindy will stay in your memory for a while thanks to Kate Beckinsale’s brilliant performance! GRADE: B+

James Gunn, the Director of the two Guardians of the Galaxy movies for MARVEL now delivers a very wild DC movie: The Suicide Squad. Viola Davis plays the manipulative Amanda Waller who offers prisoners freedom in exchange for their participation in kamikaze missions. The previous Suicide Squad sucked (you can read my review here), but Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is a completely different kettle of starfish.

Amanda Waller assembles a team whose mission is to destroy a facility in a hostile South American country that houses a space alien: an extraterrestrial giant starfish. Gunn doesn’t hesitate in killing off the members of the team. If fact, you have to wonder while watching The Suicide Squad who is going to survive the mission to the end.

If you’re in the mood for a Summer Popcorn Action movie, The Suicide Squad delivers plenty of mayhem and chaos! GRADE: B+

CAST:

• Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn:
  A crazed criminal and former psychiatrist.^[5] Robbie said the film would show a new side of the character compared to her previous DC Extended Universe (DCEU) appearances due to her being in a new place and surrounded by new characters.^[6] Director James Gunn likened Harley’s relationship with Bloodsport to the comedy duo Abbott and Costello, with Harley being Costello.^[7] Robbie wears a new costume that features Harley’s traditional red and black color palette, with Gunn taking inspiration from the character’s costume in the video game Batman: Arkham City (2011). He wanted her jacket to have “motorcycle gang style”-writing on the back, and chose “Live fast, die clown” over other potential options “Clown AF” and “World’s Best Grandpa”.^[8] Gunn also removed Harley’s “Rotten” facial tattoo from previous DCEU films because both he and Robbie disliked it.^[9]
• Idris Elba as Robert DuBois / Bloodsport:
  A mercenary with a technologically-advanced suit and weapons that only he can use. After being convicted of shooting Superman with a Kryptonite bullet, he shortens his prison sentence by joining Task Force X so he can reunite with his daughter Tyla.^[10] Gunn said each member of the Suicide Squad in the film was inspired by a different film genre,^[10] and described Bloodsport as an unsentimental portrayal of a 1960s action hero like Steve McQueen, without the “moral repercussions” of those characters.^[7] Elba was reportedly originally cast to replace Will Smith as Deadshot, but the character was changed to Bloodsport to allow Smith to reprise his role in the future;^[11][12] Gunn did not change the story that he had written for Elba, and just chose Bloodsport because he liked the character in the comics. The character’s comic book ability to manifest weapons is adapted in the film as different gadgets and transforming weaponry that come from his costume.^[8]
• John Cena as Christopher Smith / Peacemaker:
  A ruthless, jingoistic killer who believes in achieving peace at any cost.^[5][7][13] Gunn told Cena not to read any Peacemaker comics before filming, and Cena originally approached the role with an “angular, drill sergeant, Full Metal Jacket-esque personality” before Gunn told him to act like a “douchey, bro-y Captain America“.^[14] Gunn added that the character was straight out of a 1970s television series like Wonder Woman.^[10]
• Joel Kinnaman as Col. Rick Flag:
  The field leader of the Suicide Squad.^[5] Kinnaman said the film was an opportunity to give the character a blank slate, and said Flag was sillier, less jaded, more naive, and funnier compared to his portrayal in the first Suicide Squad (2016).^[15]
• Sylvester Stallone as the voice of Nanaue / King Shark:
  A man-eating fish-human hybrid.^[16][17][18] Steve Agee developed King Shark’s portrayal as a stand-in on set,^[19][20] with the character then created with visual effects.^[21] Gunn initially used a hammerhead shark design from the comics, but found it awkward to film the character with other actors due to his eyes being on the sides of his head.^[22] Gunn settled on a great white shark design similar to the one seen in the Harley Quinn (2019–present) animated series, though this was a coincidence as that series was released after filming for The Suicide Squad began.^[20] Gunn gave King Shark a dad bod to make him look less like a mammal,^[23] as well as small eyes, a big mouth, and a small head to avoid the “cute anthropomorphic beast” design seen in popular characters like Baby Groot from his Guardians of the Galaxy films and The Mandalorian‘s Baby Yoda.^[24]
• Viola Davis as Amanda Waller: The director of A.R.G.U.S. who runs the Task Force X program.^[25]
• Jai Courtney as George “Digger” Harkness / Captain Boomerang:
  An unhinged Australian thief who wields boomerangs.^[26] Courtney stated that unlike Rick Flag, Captain Boomerang has not changed since the events of Suicide Squad, being “the same shitbag liability we came to learn about in the first one. He’s out there causing trouble as you would expect.”^[27]
• Peter Capaldi as Dr. Gaius Grieves / The Thinker: A highly-intelligent supervillain who works with the Corto Maltese government on Project Starfish.