Who lives and who dies in The Suicide Squad?

Rest assured, the same cannot be said for this soft reboot, which dispenses with more than half of its principal cast members in two hours of truly blood-soaked cinema.

If you're curious to find out which members of 2021's The Suicide Squad make it out alive, read on for all the details – but beware, major spoilers for the entire film can be found from hereon.

Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) – ALIVE

Does Harley Quinn survive The Suicide Squad? As most fans had expected, Harley Quinn does indeed survive the events of The Suicide Squad, with most fans correctly guessing that Warner Bros wouldn't want to kill off one of its most popular comic book characters.

Gunn's Harley is a little darker than the version recently seen in Birds of Prey, but overall, she is still firmly in antihero territory, playing an instrumental role in saving the people of Corto Maltese from Starro. At the end of the film, Harley is free of Waller's threats and escapes the island with her surviving teammates.

Bloodsport (Idris Elba) – ALIVE

Does Bloodsport (aka Robert DuBois) survive The Suicide Squad? Yes! Idris Elba's badass marksman will live to fight another day, becoming the unofficial leader of the Squad by the end of the film, as well as growing enough of a conscience to step up for the greater good.

His troubled teenage daughter saw him saving the world on the news, giving her a newfound respect for her formerly no-good father. It's quite likely the two will repair their relationship moving forward, after DuBois showed his sensitive side by becoming a protective mentor figure to his teammate, Ratcatcher 2.

Peacemaker (John Cena) – ALIVE

Does Peacemaker survive The Suicide Squad? John Cena's time in the DC Extended Universe is far from over. We already knew that Peacemaker would be getting his own solo streaming series on HBO Max, but due to it reportedly being a prequel story, there was still a chance he could have bitten the dust here – and it seemed he had for a moment.

When Peacemaker attempted to kill Ratcatcher 2, Bloodsport arrived just in the nick of time and stopped him with a (tiny) bullet to the head. It appeared that would be the end of the character's story, until The Suicide Squad post-credits scene revealed that Peacemaker had actually survived the wound and was being nursed back to health in an American hospital.

Amanda Waller sent her associates John Economos and Emilia Harcourt to keep an eye on him, as they intend to deploy him once again to "save the world".

Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) – DEAD

Does Rick Flag survive The Suicide Squad? Sadly, Joel Kinnaman's noble soldier is brutally killed off in Gunn's sequel. After deciding that the world needs to know about US involvement in the terrifying Starro project on Corto Maltese, he steals a hard drive with the intention of leaking it to the press.

However, Peacemaker stands in his way, determined to carry out Waller's ultimate mission of preventing the US from being drawn into an international incident. The two become involved in a brutal brawl in which Flag momentarily has the upper hand, until Peacemaker drives a sharp piece of debris directly into his heart – killing him on the spot.

King Shark (Sylvester Stallone) – ALIVE

Does King Shark survive The Suicide Squad? Yes! There are several moments in the film where King Shark seems as if he's about to bite it, but in the end, he walks free with just a few scratches. Perhaps he is an ocean god after all?

While his intellect doesn't develop much over the course of the film, he does seem to establish a genuine friendship with several members of the Squad, particularly Ratcatcher 2.

Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) – ALIVE

Does Amanda Waller survive The Suicide Squad? Waller does indeed survive the events of the film, although her reputation takes quite a bruising. Her team members at ARGUS are shocked time and again by her heartless decision making, culminating in her very nearly killing the entirety of Task Force X for disobeying her order to abandon Corto Maltese.

This provokes one of her closest aides into bonking her on the head with a golf club and taking over the reins of the mission, a daring coup that might well have shaken Waller's confidence. At the end of the movie, with an icepack on her head, she looks on at her team with suspicion and doubt.

Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) – DEAD

Does Captain Boomerang survive The Suicide Squad? Given his prominent role in the 2016 film, many fans had expected Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang to be a major player here. Alas, that wasn't the case at all.

Instead, the Australian crook was part of a joke team assembled in the opening of the film, who were almost entirely wiped out in brutal fashion within minutes. Boomerang's was one of many terrible fates met on the Corto Maltese beach, being impaled by sharp debris.

Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) – DEAD

Does Polka-Dot Man survive The Suicide Squad? Polka-Dot Man achieves his mother's life-long ambition for him by becoming a superhero in the final battle, using his powerful projectiles to get a decent hit on the enormous Starro. Unfortunately, this attracts the attention of the cosmic entity, which immediately crushes Polka-Dot Man under its weight.

Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) – ALIVE

Does Ratcatcher survive The Suicide Squad? Fortunately, she does! It's hard not to take sympathy for Ratcatcher, with her tragic past and kind attitude towards her teammates, so it's a relief that she makes it out of The Suicide Squad largely unscathed.

Just like Harley, Bloodsport and King Shark, she is given a chance to live a free life, after blackmailing Waller with a threat of releasing footage proving US involvement in the Starro catastrophe.

The Thinker (Peter Capaldi) – DEAD

Does The Thinker survive The Suicide Squad? After years of sadistic experimentation on Corto Maltese, The Thinker meets a fittingly nasty end when Starro is freed from its confines under the Jotunheim laboratory.

The cosmic starfish grabs him with its tendrils and quite literally pulls him apart, in one of the film's goriest moments – no small feat considering the sheer number of blood-soaked scenes in this film.

Savant (Michael Rooker) – DEAD

Does Savant survive The Suicide Squad? James Gunn's frequent collaborator Michael Rooker had a smaller role here than he did in the Guardians films, recruited as a member of the distraction Squad at the start of the film. After his deployment on the Corto Maltese beach quickly devolves into bloody chaos, Savant panics and attempts to swim out to sea to escape.

Ignoring Waller's repeated commands to return to the battle pushes the ARGUS boss to detonate the bomb in Savant's skull, leaving his remains in the sea to be feasted on by birds.

Blackguard (Pete Davidson) – DEAD

Does Blackguard survive The Suicide Squad? Former SNL star Pete Davidson is one of the first Squad members to meet a gnarly demise, after a botched attempt to sell out his team to the Corto Maltese military. They renege on his deal and shoot him in the face as he haphazardly marches towards them.

TDK (Nathan Fillion) – DEAD

Does TDK (aka The Detachable Kid) survive The Suicide Squad? After much speculation, it is revealed that Nathan Fillion's TDK is actually The Detachable Kid, an alternate version of cult character Arm-Fall-Off-Boy. He does get a chance to demonstrate his particular set of skills in the opening battle scene, but is gunned down shortly after.

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Weasel (Sean Gunn) – ALIVE

Does Weasel survive The Suicide Squad? Shockingly... yes. The disturbing creature appears to drown at the start of Task Force X's mission, with Savant incorrectly announcing him dead after swimming him to shore.

However, the final scene of the movie sees Weasel miraculously(?) regain consciousness, spluttering water across the beach before running off into the jungle. Let's hope Corto Maltese have good pest control services.

Javelin (Flula Borg) – DEAD

Does Javelin survive The Suicide Squad? Nope. He too meets a bloody end in the skirmish between Squad B and the Corto Maltese military, but in his dying moments is able to pass on his javelin to Harley Quinn. That turns out to be very luck indeed as the weapon proves vital in taking down Starro at the end of the movie.

Mongal (Mayling Ng) – DEAD

Does Mogal survive The Suicide Squad? Mayling Ng's alien warrior makes another early exit from the film, perishing in a fiery explosion as a helicopter crashes onto the Corto Maltese beach.

The Suicide Squad is released in UK cinemas on Friday 30th July. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.