How Suicide Squad Shook Up A Whole Genre

Character Development In-Universe

Comic book movie franchises have generally always followed the same formula: origin story, first challenge, maturity and beyond. This has been true for Superman, Batman, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man, and X-Men. It will undoubtedly be the course followed by Ant-Man and Deadpool, too. With Suicide Squad, DC and Warner Bros have introduced a new strategy, whereby characters are introduced in a team setting, before being assessed for spinoff potential.

It could be argued, that Fox already used this strategy when X-Men launched a solo franchise for Wolverine, but the difference here is that the spinoff first being considered is a female-led film. Before Suicide Squad even reached theatres, it was revealed that a Harley Quinn focused film was being put into early development, with Margot Robbie as producer. It was also revealed that this would be a film specifically about a number of female villains which would, in itself, be groundbreaking.

In addition, we now have the first instalment in the DCEU which broadens the scope of the franchise beyond the stories of Superman and Batman. While the villains of Suicide Squad are generally related to Batman in some way (many DC villains are – he’s been around for over 75 years), they each have rich story histories of their own which are ripe for exploration. It would also appear that, just as Batman and The Flash both appeared briefly in Suicide Squad, members of Task Force X could equally appear in other DCEU films outside of their own inevitable sequel. Such appearances would lend themselves to further character development, in-universe, without the need for an overwhelming number of solo spin-off series.

Marvel has, to an extent, used this strategy of appearances for some of their characters – notably Black Widow, Falcon and Hulk – but theirs is a version that crystallises the white male-centric nature of the current MCU. Suicide Squad, by contrast, could well serve as a launchpad for further comic book movies that give vital reinvigoration to the entire genre, having first shaken it up with its own release.