'Suicide Squad' News, Spoilers: Karen Fukuhara on Katana, soultaker Blade; Jared Leto Talks 'New Direction' for the Joker
In the upcoming DC antihero ensemble film "Suicide Squad," actress Karen Fukuhara plays the role of Katana, an expert swordswoman and martial artist who wields a mystical sword called the Soultaker.
Katana serves as a bodyguard to Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), a military officer tasked with leading the Task Force X team. Unlike the others in the team, Katana is a volunteer and not a criminal. Thus, unlike them, she is not implanted with a micro-bomb. While the character is reportedly more morally grounded than her teammates, her terrifying blade, Soultaker, is capable of trapping the souls of her enemies.
Speaking to ComicBook.com during the Warner Brothers' The Big Picture presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas earlier this month, Fukuhara dropped some details about her "Suicide Squad" character and talked about what it was like working with Jared Leto, who plays the Joker, in the DC film.
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"She's very loyal to Amanda Waller [Viola Davis] and Rick Flag," Fukuhara said. "She works under them and keeps a rowdy bunch in line. She's a protector and a fierce warrior."
The actress also spoke about her blade, Soultaker, saying, "She has her husband's soul in her sword and I got to talk to Maseo [Yamashiro, Katana's husband] throughout the film…"
Fukuhara also addressed what may be the most controversial aspect of the film thus far: Leto's portrayal of the iconic comic book villain, the Joker. As has been widely reported, Leto adopted the method technique during filming and stayed in character throughout the "Suicide Squad" shoot, even when he wasn't in front of the camera.
According to Fukuhara, she never met Leto, but did meet "Mr. J." As she told ComicBook.com, the actress saw him on set and even introduced herself.
"I'd be like, 'Hi, I'm Karen,' and he'd be like, 'Haaaa,'" she recounted.
Meanwhile, in a recent chat with Coming Soon, Leto addressed the rumors that "Suicide Squad" will delve into the Joker's origins. While the actor admitted that he wasn't allowed to discuss that, he did reveal that the film takes the Joker in a "completely new direction."
"When the Joker has been done and done so well, it gives you a bit of an indication of where you shouldn't go," he explained. "There's a bit of a map there. That's the good part about it."
"Suicide Squad" hits theaters August 5.
