Captain Boomerang

**George "Digger" Harkness** was a notorious criminal from Australia and a member of Task Force X. Harkness was raised in poverty in Korumburra, the illegitimate child of Betty Harkness and W. W. Wiggins. Harkness learned early how to develop boomerangs into weapons. Having moved to the US.

Earning the name **Captain Boomerang** from his father later in his life, Harkness became an infamous bank robber, renowned to be among the most lethal robbers in the world with 54 counts of aggravated assault and 98 counts of burglary to his name.

Years later, Harkness went on the run and was wanted by the Gotham City Police Department. In 2020, Harkness was recruited once again for a new grouping of Task Force X to stop Project Starfish in Corto Maltese, but his mission would not go well, as Harkness and most of the team were killed.

## Biography

### Early life

George Harkness was born on September 12, 1985, in Kurrumburra, Australia, to Betty Harkness, where he was raised in poverty as the illegitimate child of W. W. Wiggins, an American toy manufacturer. His father, Owen Mercer, hated the boy and subjected him to abuse and cruelty. As a child, George learned how to craft sophisticated boomerangs and even developed them into weapons. At some point he came to own a pink unicorn stuff toy named Pinky, a toy which he would keep well into his adult years.

During his teens he had a relationships with Mallory Ryan, a girl from Bindoon. There was friction between Digger and Mallory's father, the policeman Stanley, who considered Digger a liar, a cheater, and a thief hailing from a family of liars, cheaters, and thieves. That friction was resolved more than a decade later when Digger threw a boomerang into the tail of Stanley's helicopter mid-flight, causing it to crash. Stanley was killed, and his daughter joined the police force in his stead.

#### Spiritual Retreat

At the age of 14, Harkness went on a spiritual walkabout that took him nearly four months to complete, giving Harkness a sense of serenity that he needed in his life. When he finally returned home, Harkness initially believed that he could carry and maintain that feeling of peace that would hopefully help guide him into adulthood.

#### Search for his father

At age 15, he and a friend robbed a general store and escaped with the money he obtained thanks to a boomerang. Nonetheless, his stepfather banished him from the house as a result of the incident, but Betty bought her son a plane ticket to Central City, Ohio, and told him to get in touch with his biological father.

During the search, Harkness learned that Wiggins Game Company had been searching for a spokesman, and took the chance to audition under the alias George Green for the job which he landed. Wiggins became impressed with his son's boomerang-throwing skills and gave him the title Captain Boomerang.

#### College Years

Boomerang alluded to having attended college at some point, a time when he may have experimented with certain drugs.

#### Thievery

Boomerang, however, had other plans for his new alter ego and began a string of thefts in Australia. On a scene of his robberies in Perth he met again Mallory Ryan, now become a police officer. She told him to stop, but he cut her arm with a boomerang before she could react, giving him the opportunity to make his escape.

### The Jotunheim Mission

#### The New Suicide Squad

"*We're in a butcher's freezer, Harls. Surrounded by dead hogs hanging on hooks. Only they don't know it yet.*"
"*Leave 'em alone, Boomer!*"
—Captain Boomerang and Harley Quinn[src]
Sometime after his initial escape, Digger was recaptured and sent back to Belle Reve, where he was once again forced into the Suicide Squad. In August 2020, he was assigned to a strike team led again by Rick Flag, containing returning member Harley Quinn, and all-new members Savant, Blackguard, Weasel, Mongal, Javelin, and the Detachable Kid. This new team was sent on a mission to Corto Maltese to annihilate their dangerous and mysterious military project, known only as Project Starfish.

#### Battle on the beach

On the way to Corto Maltese, Boomerang mocked Blackguard and laughed with the other teammates. He expressed surprise that Harley Quinn was back in Belle Reve again so soon. Upon landing on the beach of Corto Maltese, Blackguard betrayed the team, even though Boomerang repeatedly tried to stop him. A fight ensued where Boomerang killed two Corto Maltesian soldiers with his boomerangs.

However, Mongal attempted to bring down an enemy helicopter, which crashed, first shooting tree bark clippings into Boomerang's head and body, then slicing him to death with its propellers. Harley cried out in disbelief of his death, but a glowing boomerang clenched in his fist remained in the sand where he stood.

### Legacy

While traveling in the Chronobowl in order to prevent his mother's death, Barry Allen visited some memories from his past. Among them, he was able to observe Harkness for a few seconds during his encounter at the Central City Diamond Exchange.

## Personality

*"Hey, well, you know what they say about the crazy ones."*
―Captain Boomerang to Harley Quinn[src]
Captain Boomerang was a tough, sarcastic, humorous and somewhat crude individual (labeled a "deranged lunatic" on his psychological profile) who had no qualms with theft (98 counts of burglary), beating (51 counts of aggravated assault), or killing, going so far as to trick Slipknot into trying to escape the Suicide Squad (and subsequently getting himself killed), just to test if the implanted nano-bombs were actually real, not wanting to risk his own life.

According to Waller, Harkness wasn't capable of working with others and had little to no honor, often backstabbing his partners so he could save his life and keep all the loot he got in any robbery, and before being arrested he was seen killing his own partner in crime just because he didn't want to split the jewels they stole.

Despite that, however, Harkness wasn't completely devoid of empathy, greatly respecting Deadshot's refusal to kill Harley Quinn, sympathizing with Deadshot's inability to save Harley (when she was assumed to have been killed by Waller's forces), being depressed and shocked after learning El Diablo's dark secret (despite previously mocking El Diablo with a cigarette lighter), and even reprimanding Harley for mocking El Diablo about it. The only other time he showed fear is when Waller accepted his challenge, to fight for his right to be free; her steely gaze was enough to put him in his place.

Harkness also had a penchant for drinking beer (even taking a sip in the heat of a battle with Enchantress' monstrous Eyes of the Adversary army), and a fetish for pink unicorns (carrying around a stuffed one nicknamed "Pinky" on himself most of the time).

## Abilities

* **Expert combatant**: Captain Boomerang is a solid fighter, and though his file describes him as an expert hand-to-hand combatant. Whilst he is not quite on Bloodsport's level he is still a very capable combatant. He can cut down multiple people in mere seconds when using the bladed edges of his boomerangs as close-quarter weapons, shown when he overpowered quite a few monstrous troops in rapid succession.
	+ **Boomerang mastery**: Captain Boomerang is a master at throwing his bladed and edged trick boomerangs, hence his nickname and weapons of choice. He has displayed exceptional accuracy with his hurled boomerangs as well. In Corto Maltese, he was able to cut one man's head in half and another's head clean off from the neck.

### Weaknesses

* **Psychosis**: According to his psych profile, Captain Boomerang is a deranged lunatic, likely due to his step-father, Ian Harkness, subjecting him to abuse and cruelty. He is comfortable with his unprincipled, if not sociopathic, behavior. He has a history of sexually harassing women, vocalizing racist beliefs, betraying comrades, and murdering innocent citizens.

## Equipment

### Weapons

* **Trick boomerangs**: Captain Boomerang's primary weapons, with each of them a steel-made curved blade, sharpened on both sides. When thrown, his boomerangs spins about an axis that is perpendicular to their flight direction, and are designed to return to the thrower. He is a very formidable opponent when armed with his trick boomerangs, using them both as ranged and close-quarters weapons.
	+ **Scanning boomerang**: Captain Boomerang utilized a boomerang with a camera that transmits video imagery to his cell phone, in order to help the Squad get a better look at Incubus before attacking.
	+ **Explosive boomerang**: Captain Boomerang used an explosive boomerang while fighting Incubus; however, the mighty metahuman opponent was far too powerful to be affected by the weapon.
	+ **Rocket boomerang**: Although never seen, Amanda Waller's file on Captain Boomerang mentioned that Boomerang tied Flash to a rocket boomerang.

## Relationships

* W. W. Wiggins - Father
* Betty Harkness - Mother
* Ian Harkness - Stepfather

Allies* Task Force X - Teammates
	+ Rick Flag † - Leader and Friend
	+ Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn - Friend
	+ Weasel
	+ Brian Durlin/Savant †
	+ Mongal † - Accidental Killer
	+ Cory Pitzner/T.D.K.
	+ Gunter Braun/Javelin †
	+ Amanda Waller - Forced Superior
	+ John Economos
	+ Flo Crawley
	+ Emilia Harcourt
	+ Briscoe
* Starro † - Target
* Corto Maltese Armed Forces
* Richard Hertz/Blackguard † - Former Teammate and indirect killer

## Trivia

* According to Amanda Waller's files, Harkness once tied an unconscious Flash to a giant rocket boomerang. This is a callback to the comics where Harkness did the same thing.
* It is shown in *Suicide Squad*, on Amanda Waller's files, Captain Boomerang's birthday is September 12, 1985. However, according to Digger Harkness's file on the A.R.G.U.S. official website, Captain Boomerang's birthday is December 9, 1985.
* Captain Boomerang has been described as the "spirit animal" of the Suicide Squad, as he does whatever he pleases when he wants, no matter the situation. Best proven as he has a beer in the middle of a fight.
* In Australia, "Digger" is a local slang word for "soldier". This could be a reference to how Captain Boomerang's father W. W. Wiggins used to be a soldier in the US Army.
* In the 2021 film, Captain Boomerang is the only member of the Suicide Squad team not given special treatments, due to him betraying the team and attempting to escape.
* In the promotional images for the 2021 film, he is seen wearing his iconic woven hat, but this was omitted from his costume in the movie. He wears a different woven hat in the promotional images and footage.
* Captain Boomerang's first kill, as well as his death (in *The Suicide Squad*), are both the result of helicopter crashes.

## Behind the scenes

* Props for Amanda Waller's top secret file consistently misspell his name as "Hawkness" in several instances.
* Before taking on the role of Captain Boomerang, Jai Courtney had said that he would never do a comic book movie. He changed his mind.
* Daniel Hargrave, Alain Moussi and Ben Smith-Petersen were stunt doubles for Jai Courtney in the role of Captain Boomerang.

## References

1. ↑ Jump up to:7.0 7.1 Gunn, James (writer and director) (August 6, 2021). *The Suicide Squad*.
2. ↑ Jump up to:9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Amanda Waller's top secret file
3. ↑ ‘Insurgent’ Star Jai Courtney Talks ‘Suicide Squad’ and ‘Terminator: Genisys’

## External links

* Captain Boomerang on DC Database
* Captain Boomerang on Wikipedia