This August, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad will finally arrive simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, though despite the fact that the sequel to David Ayer’s middling 2016 film has been long in the making, we barely know anything about the plot and what it will involve, other than that DC’s most mischievous villains will be back, of course.
The star-studded cast will include Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, whom we last saw in 2020’s Birds of Prey, and newcomers Idris Elba and John Cena, who’ll portray Bloodsport and Peacemaker, respectively. Elba originally came on board to replace Will Smith’s Deadshot, but the studio decided against the idea of retconning the established continuity. And if these names, in a project helmed by the Guardians of the Galaxy director, aren’t enough to get your geek blood pumping, then it’s also worth noting that Doctor Who‘s Peter Capaldi is playing a role in the flick, that of the highly-intelligent supervillain, the Thinker.
As for the story itself, Warner Bros. has just revealed the official synopsis for The Suicide Squad which offers up quite a bit about the anticipated film, as you can see below:
“Welcome to hell — a.k.a. Bell Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out — even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin, and everyone’s favorite pyscho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.”
Narrative-wise, Gunn’s sequel sounds like a good old Suicide Squad story, where A.R.G.U.S. agent Amanda Waller tasks a group of DC supervillains with doing a seemingly impossible task under pain of death. Though what excites most fans is the fact that the MCU director has written and directed the project.
This all came to be when Marvel Studios fired Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 due to his insensitive jokes on Twitter, and while Kevin Feige has since reinstated the talented filmmaker, Warner Bros. caught this opportunity and hired one of the people who’s known to have highly contributed to the success of the MCU at one of its most vital stages. As such, I think it’s safe to say that we’re all excited to see what the director has done with The Suicide Squad.
