What Six Members of Suicide Squad Have to Say About Faith

El Diablo

For me, El Diablo (literally, “the devil”) is ironically Suicide Squad’s most poignant character—a sinner that, unlike most of the rest of the Squad, gets the gravity of sin.

We learn that Diablo (literally, “devil”) was indeed a bit of a beast, getting into (we’re led to believe) lots of bad, bad behavior. To make matters worse, he’s the only Suicide Squad member who has a real superpower—the ability to create an inferno just by thinking about it. Despite the fact that his wife prayed with him and for him constantly, he refused to turn away from his evil ways … until, in a fit of passion, he destroyed her and his two young children. It’s the most monstrous deed we hear being committed by any member of the Suicide Squad.

But here’s the thing: He knows what a terrible thing he did. He knows he can’t ask for a do-over, or make amends, or do enough good things to earn himself into the universe’s good graces. “I can’t change what I did,” he says. “And neither can you.”

He’s broken. He knows it. He’s at a point where, at least in Christian terms, he can begin to truly heal—to depend on God for grace and forgiveness. And ironically, that understanding propels him to sacrifice a great deal for his new makeshift family: He gives his own life for the sake of others.  “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” Jesus tells us in John (New Living Translation). And whether he knew that verse or not, his sacrifice reminds us of it. And maybe even a devil can be saved.