Here's The Hilarious Reason Amanda Waller Put Rick Flag On The Expendable Team In 'The Suicide Squad'

Warning: spoilers ahead for The Suicide Squad.

James Gunn's The Suicide Squad opens with Viola Davis's character, Amanda Waller, blackmailing a team of criminals into participating in a forthcoming operation on an island nation. A few minutes in, after most of those characters are gunned down while storming the nation's beach, the ruthless Waller confirms that she had purposefully used that entire team as a diversion so the real squad could make their way onto the island without any issues.

But why was Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag, who is seemingly on good terms with Waller, a part of that expendable first team? In a new interview, James Gunn details a deleted scene that explains the hilariously petty reason Waller decided to throw Flag under the bus.

"We realize that she picked out all of the people she didn't like, and all the people she thought were really useless, just to use as a diversion so the team she thought was useful could get through," Gunn said on the newest episode of the Script Apart podcast. "And it's true. Team 2 is pretty deadly. They're pretty good at what they do...they're the real money team. And then there's the other team."

Rick Flag has a history with Waller. He's one of the few characters who appeared in the 2016 Suicide Squad movie, and the implication is that they're colleagues who have worked closely together for years. That's why the reason Flag was dropped onto Team 1 is so funny.

"One thing we had to cut from the film that sometimes I'm like 'oh, I wish we didn't!' is that we find out why Rick Flag is in that group," Gunn explained. "We see a flashback where Rick Flag makes fun of Amanda Waller's shirt. It's this really ugly shirt with all these different colors on it, and he says, 'It looks like a group of clowns sh*t all over you.' And Steve Agee's character, John Economos, is just laughing hysterically at Amanda Waller, and you can just see death in Viola Davis's face. She just looks like death. And that's why [Flag is] on that beach."

Knowingly sending someone to their death because they made fun of your fashion choices? Everyone bow down before Amanda Waller, the vindictive queen of pettiness.

The Suicide Squad is in theaters and streaming on HBO Max right now.