'I do hope and pray that at some point...there's a character that I would make sense for James [Gunn] to put me back into something,' says Polka-Dot Man's David Dastmalchian

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'I do hope and pray that at some point...there's a character that I would make sense for James [Gunn] to put me back into something,' says Polka-Dot Man's David Dastmalchian Features By Lance Ulanoff published 22 November 2025

Dastmalchian is ready for his next DCU loseup

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(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

It's hard to forget Polka-Dot Man's demise in The Suicide Squad. A villain who struggled to accept his abilities as more than a deformity, only to finally embrace his innate heroism just at the moment of his death. It was cathartic and frustrating, especially for fans who hoped to see David Dastmalchian's spot-on characterization again.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

"That was a death. That was a really final and complete kind of death. That was a really beautiful death," Dastmalchian told me.

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The actor, who's set to inhabit Mr. 3 in One Piece season 2 on Netflix next year and an assassin opposite Mads Mikkelsen in Dust Bunny next month, told me the death was hard for him, too.

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"It was hard for me to have that character die because he ... had just passed the cusp of embracing the thing that he hated the most about himself. [It] was actually empowering, and I've done that," he told me.

Polka-Dot Man's (Abner Kril) story arc was all the more meaningful because it was engineered by Suicide Squad Writer/Director James Gunn.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

"James is not only a director, but also, as a friend, has helped me be proud of who I am and the things that I used to be so ashamed about myself, the weirdness about me, the flaws in me," he told me.

While Gunn and Dastmalchian remain tight – the former appeared on the latter's YouTube Web Series, Grave Conversations – that Polka-Dot Man death was final, meaning the character could not appear in Superman: Man of Tomorrow. Dastmalchian also confirmed to me that he will not be appearing in the upcoming DCU film in any other role.

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"I am not a part of the next movie that he's making. I could say that I can absolutely answer that question," said Dastmalchian.

(Image credit: Isaac Sterling)

Of course, DCU Chapter One has many branches both on the big and small screen, leaving open all sorts of opportunities for the kinds of juicy roles in which the chameleon-like Dastmalchian excels.

"I do hope and pray that at some point, down the journey, there's a character that I would make sense for James to put me back into something," but Dastmalchian is also sanguine about the possibility that nothing new materializes:

"But... if the things that I've gotten to do with James up to this point are the things that I've gotten to do, then I'm already swimming in riches. I mean, there's never been a character like Abner Krill and and there never will be a character like Abner Krill."

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Lance UlanoffSocial Links NavigationEditor At Large

A 38-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.

Lance Ulanoff makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC. 

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