The DC Extended Universe is certainly turning into one unique best. Following MAN OF STEEL, they jumped right into the thick of things with the recent BATMAN v SUPERMAN, and following that film is an even more interesting-looking film in SUICIDE SQUAD. Where most superhero films follow the superheroes, SUICIDE SQUAD follows a band of villains–man of whom mainstream audiences aren’t even aware of. It’s quite the risk for DC to have faith in an lineup like this, and give how unpredictable the studio has been with their films, one has to wonder just where the timeline for their films is.

One other big question is “just how established are these villains?” In a recent interview with Coming Soon, actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje — who plays Killer Croc in SUICIDE SQUAD — talked a bit about where his character is when we’re introduced to him.

“At the time you meet him in this film, he’s a fully-fledged criminal. He’s really one of the baddest criminals known to be roaming in Gotham, hence his lockup in Arkham. He’s tangled with the Batman and here he is amongst these other foes. He’s very much a formidable force at the time that you meet him.”

This is one of the many ways the DCEU differentiates itself from the MCU. Not to bring up any undue comparisons, when we first got into the MCU with IRON MAN, one got the definite feel that that film was truly where everything began. With the DCEU, one gets the feeling that this is a world that’s already been lived in, which is kind of a cool way to go about it.

Anyway, back to Croc.

While many moviegoers may not recognize this character, there is no doubt that this version of him is quite the eye-catcher. One of the cooler aspects of the way Croc was executed on screen is that he was a fully practical creation. 

“The head and shoulders are prosthetic that were glued onto my face and then the body down was painted,” Akinnuoye-Agbaje explains. “It took about five hours to do, but it was something that was a challenge that I was up for because I wanted to set a new standard for what can be done with prosthetics. We could have easily CGI’d this, but David [Ayer] was insistent on their being an actor to bring out the soul of the character. It gave me an opportunity to show what I could do with prosthetics.”

In the age of CGI, Croc would be an easy character to accomplish on motion capture, and while that would’ve been beautiful in its own way, there is something admirable about going practical with it.

In addition to the execution, one of the big questions when introducing any character is whether or not the actor is the type to dig through the source material or create his own vision from scratch. Akkinnuoye-Agbaje, it turns out, is in the former camp.

“I looked at all of it. I went back to the young Waylon Jones. The animated series. I had my own take, too. I researched cannibalism. I actually went out and watched real crocodiles, too. We incorporated some of the real life fight techniques that crocodiles do when they kill their prey. The death roll.”

And speaking of crocs and fight techniques…

“Oh, you’re going to get more than one water scene! I’m a croc after all, man. That’s my territory!”

What are your thoughts on Killer Croc’s character and execution so far? Let us know in the comments down below!

SUICIDE SQUAD hits theaters on August 5, 2016.

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SOURCE: Coming Soon