5 fun facts about 'The Suicide Squad' movie

"The Suicide Squad" premiered Aug. 5, written and directed by James Gunn ("Guardians of the Galaxy"), and yes, it's a hoot. Let me add to the party with 5 Fun Facts to Know and Tell about the film.

Just like in the comics, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) operates out of a prison in Louisiana that is home to a lot of supervillains. In fact, we see a bunch of them in the scenes where Bloodsport (Idris Elba) is recruited. They include Double Down (Jared Leland Gore), Kaleidoscope (Natalia Safran) and Calendar Man (Sean Gunn).

Fun Fact: Sean Gunn is director James Gunn's brother, who also plays Weasel (through motion capture). If he looks familiar, it's because he plays Kraglin in his brother's "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies, as well as providing the motion capture for Rocket Raccoon (while Bradley Cooper does the voice).

The movie gets King Shark almost exactly right. His name really is Nanaue, and he really is the son of the Shark God in the pantheon of Atlantis. Voiced by Sylvester Stallone in the movie, he was voiced by David Hayter on "The Flash" TV show.

Fun Fact: King Shark was a regular on the R-rated "Harley Quinn" show, voiced by comedian Ron Funches ("Trolls," "Powerless").

Christopher Smith was originally a serious superhero who appeared in Charlton Comics in the 1960s. A rich, pacifist diplomat, he publicly financed the Pax Institute — and a secret life as the dictator-toppling, international righter-of-wrongs Peacemaker.

When he was bought by DC Comics (along with most of the other Charlton superheroes), the new publisher introduced the idea that a guy who loves peace so much he doesn't care "how many men, women and children I kill to get it" might not be entirely sane.

Poor ol' Mister Polka-Dot. That was his first nom du crime in 1962, where he committed spot-related crimes in Gotham City with a gimmicked costume that could produce weaponry from the dots. And yes, despite the best efforts of creators Bill Finger (writer) and Sheldon Moldoff (artist), he swiftly became a joke character named Polka-Dot Man, who rarely appeared, except as a punchline.

Fun Fact: The definition of polka dots are dots of the same size (and usually the same color) that form a pattern. Polka-Dot Man's costume of randomly sized and colored dots isn't polka-dotted at all ... it's just spotted.

Starro was the villain in the very first Justice League story, published in "Brave and Bold" in 1960. It is, in fact, a giant alien starfish that releases face-sized, starfish-y spores to control sentient creatures and conquer their worlds.

Fun Fact: In the comics, a surviving segment of the original Starro regrew into a full alien starfish the size of one of the spores, which Batman keeps in a jar. Telepathically convinced to be a hero by Martian Manhunter, "Jarro" is fanatically loyal to Batman, and wears a starfish-adapted Robin costume in its dreams, where it is the Dark Knight's heroic sidekick.