Everything You Need To Know About The DC Movie Slate

Suicide Squad

Expected: August 5th, 2016

Team synopsis: Suicide Squad is a team of supervillains who complete dangerous missions for the government in exchange for shortened prison sentences.

Origins and Characters: Suicide Squad was created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru in 1959 (and given a contemporary facelift by John Ostrander in 1987). Prominent in its origin is Amanda Waller – Director of A.R.G.U.S. (The Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans – which is basically DC’s equivalent of Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D.). When a dangerous black-ops mission presents itself, Waller gathers the criminals she needs from DC’s various prisons (including Arkham, Blackgate, Iron Heights, and Belle Reve Penitentiary) and offers them a commuted sentence if they succeed. The catch, however, is that they’re under her control and will be killed if they disobey orders or go off script – something that’s accomplished by neck implants that will literally blow their heads off when triggered.

The team roster has shifted over the years. Deadshot, one of the world’s deadliest assassins, has often featured, while characters like Col. Rick Flag, Jr., King Shark, Black Spider, Captain Boomerang, and even Harley Quinn have been recurring Squad members. That gives director David Ayer the opportunity to draw from all corners of the DC library for this film, and the option to shift things up in future instalments and sequels if need be.

Greatest Enemies: Unlike DC heroes, the team itself doesn’t have any staple adversaries, as their missions change every time. The recent animated film Batman: Assault on Arkham featured the team breaking into Arkham Asylum to complete a mission, where they went up against not just the prison guards, but Batman himself. That gives the Suicide Squad film a great opportunity to both enhance and widen the DC Cinematic Universe, while including cameos from other film characters (including, as was recently rumored, Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor – as cast in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice).

Casting: As far as we know, Warner Bros. is currently looking for four leads, and has already approached actors for roles. Will Smith, The Wolf of Wall Street’s Margot Robbie, Tom Hardy, and Ryan Gosling have already been approached by the studio and offered roles. Who they could play remains a mystery, though we’ve heard rumors that Deadshot, Vixen, Captain Boomerang, and Amanda Waller are likely. Personally, I think Gosling would make a perfect Deadshot, while Hardy could play either Captain Boomerang or one of the best foes in the DC Comics library: Deathstroke. My guess is that the Squad will unite for a job and go up against a formidable foe that requires their specific skill set, and Deathstroke (who was recently seen in Arrow’s stellar second season) would fit that bill nicely.

History and Future: This was perhaps the biggest surprise on the DC Comics slate, not because we didn’t know a movie was in the works (director David Ayer’s name was rumored before the project was announced), but because we didn’t expect to see it so soon in the new DC Cinematic Universe. As it stands now, the supervillain team will be the first out of the gate after Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice blasts into theaters and blows the doors of the shiny new DCCU wide open.

Despite comparisons to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – which showed criminals banding together and becoming heroes – Suicide Squad accomplishes something completely different. Its members are truly the baddest of the bad, and aren’t accomplishing goals with heroic intentions in mind. They’re simply fighting to get out of jail, and once their mission is complete they’ll go right back to a life of crime (and likely wind up in the hands of Amanda Waller once more). Now that’s a movie!

Aside from the aforementioned Assault on Arkham direct-to-video feature, the Suicide Squad has previously appeared on television, most notably in Smallville and on Arrow. They have never had the big screen treatment before, however. Needless to say, Suicide Squad offers Warner Brothers a unique opportunity to expand the DC brand beyond just the core Justice League heroes we’re already familiar with, and dive into the more unknown corners of the DCCU. We have yet to see a supervillain-centric film, so the project is a big gamble, but with David Ayer in charge and an exciting group of characters to choose from, it’s already one of the most anticipated DC movies on the horizon.

– James Garcia