George Harkness

**George "Digger" Harkness** was a notorious criminal in 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 stepfather, Ian Harkness, 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

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), (and subsequently getting himself killed), just to test if the implanted nano-bombs were actually real, not wanting to risk his own life.

## Abilities

* **Peak human condition**: Captain Boomerang, as a highly skilled and experienced robber, is in top physical condition, capable of knocking down Navy SEALs with just a single blow, promptly needing to be restrained by Rick Flag, was able to take down several of the Eyes of the Adversary troops, and having 51 counts of aggravated assault to his name. He can also contort his own body into the shape of a boomerang.
	+ **Peak human reflexes**: Captain Boomerang has honed his reflexes throughout years of throwing and catching his boomerangs.
* **Expert combatant**: Captain Boomerang is a solid fighter, and though his file describes him as an expert hand-to-hand combatant. 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, though Enchantress herself swiftly defeated him.
	+ **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 (swiftly killing his bank robber partner), though he is rivaled in accuracy. In addition, he can wield them as melee weapons to such a degree that he could take down at least half of Rick Flag without breathing hard. In Corto Maltese, he was able to cut one man's head in half and another's head clean off from the neck.

* **Master thief**: Captain Boomerang, as a self-proclaimed "asset relocation specialist," is a prolific and extremely skilled robber and jewel thief, having 98 counts of burglary to his name, and being known for having robbed every bank in Australia at least once, and several more in the United States. Hence, Boomerang is serving three life sentences the longest out of anyone on the Suicide Squad. He also robbed a general store with a friend when he was 18 years old.
* **Master tactician**: Captain Boomerang is a master strategist, as he has undertaken a string of jewelry heists. His file describes him as an illustrious escape artist, as he has discreetly planted specially-designed getaway boomerangs in every prison within a 100-mile radius of Central City in order to help him escape if he were to ever be imprisoned there.
* **Expert deceiver**: Captain Boomerang is a highly skilled deceiver, easily attempting to escape, thus successfully testing out how real Amanda Waller's threat actually was without having to risk his own life. In addition, he also deceived his bank robber partner, who he swiftly killed with one of his boomerangs. He also attempted to feign innocence in front of Rick Flag, claiming that the undeservingly apprehended him, but without success. Prior to his incarceration, he temporarily fooled the highly intelligent into thinking that he was being impersonated so he could knock him out with a boomerang.
* **Expert engineer**: As a child, Harkness learned how to craft sophisticated boomerangs and eventually developed them into weapons. His file describes him as an explosive engineer.

### 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.
* **Alcoholism**: According to his psych profile, Captain Boomerang is a possible alcoholic.

## 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.
	+ **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

* Owen Mercer - Father
* Betty Harkness - Mother
* Ian Harkness - Stepfather

Allies* United States Air Force
	+ GQ Edwards †
	+ Gomez †
* 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.
* He wears a different woven hat in the promotional images and footage from the 2021 film.
* Captain Boomerang's 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.
* 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. ↑ Hodson, Christina (writer) & Muschietti, Andy (director) (June 16, 2023). *The Flash*.
3. ↑ 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
4. ↑ ‘Insurgent’ Star Jai Courtney Talks ‘Suicide Squad’ and ‘Terminator: Genisys’

## External links

The **DC Universe Wiki** has a collection of images and media related to **Captain Boomerang**.

* Captain Boomerang on DC Database
* Captain Boomerang on Wikipedia