SUICIDE SQUAD (2016) Comic-Con Trailer

San Diego Comic Con 2015 just wrapped up this weekend, but the amount of information that has made its way out, (both intentionally and unintentionally) will keep fans talking for… well the next Comic Con most likely. One of the panels for one of the most awaited movies of next year was held by Warner Brothers Studios for their upcoming movie which happens to be another installment of their very own shared film universe, ‘Suicide Squad’.

While initially the trailer for the 2016 film leaked online, Warner Brothers reacted almost immediately in, what seems to be the standard operating procedure these days, by releasing the official trailer in all its Hi-Def glory for fans to enjoy, as can be seen below. The film, following the release of the 2nd movie in WB’s shared movie universe, ‘Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice’, changes gears from the established formula with a movie that stars an all star line-up of the villains of DC’s Comic Book Universe. A risky venture, but one of the most exciting comic book films of recent times, check out the Trailer for ‘Suicide Squad’ below.

The full trailer for ‘Suicide Squad’ sets up the premise of the story; a prominent figure within a branch of government, Amanda Waller, played by Viola Davis, establishes her intentions of creating a covert operations team compromised entirely of ‘bad guys’ who have nothing to lose, and will provide the powers that be with the ultimate deniability if things go wrong, given that they are villains to begin with. A villainous team of baddies coordinating in order to do good in the world is a concept that’s resonated so much with comic book fans, that iterations of the Suicide Squad has existed in some form or another in the DC Comics Universe for decades. With a rotating roster of members made of up mostly obscure villains of major superheroes, Suicide Squad has been responsible for some of the biggest storylines and events within the DC Comic Universe. DC & WB are now releasing the film which, some theories suggest, may essentially populate DC’s Movie Universe with villains that will act as the catalyst for the eventual solo hero films post ‘Justice League’, or even connect the backstory of the other films such as ‘Batman V. Superman’, as Batman himself does make an appearance in this trailer itself.

Most of the characters of ‘Suicide Squad’ are non powered humans, which allows them to fit into the universe of grounded reality that the DC Movie Universe is shaping up to be. With the exception of Superman, who Amanda Waller attributes with the appearance of people with abilities due to his own public reveal, Wonder Woman, played by Gal Gadot, is the only other powered character in this universe. This is something that definitely will be changing, as we know that characters like Aquaman and The Flash are all slated to join this universe. Even the portrayal of and depiction of Wonder Woman’s powers and origins are yet to be fully revealed. Given this, is seems that ‘Suicide Squad’ will have to deal with the first ever super powered villains with characters like Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) Enchantress, (Cara Delevingne) and El Diablo (Jay Hernandez) being part of the team. While Killer Croc’s abilities may be explained away with the use of genetic mutation, El Diablo & Enchantress become slightly more difficult as their powers involve mysticism and sorcery. It should be interesting to see how those characters fit into a story that is essentially an action adventure story featuring military style excursions with psychotic criminals set against the backdrop of a super hero world.

Heavyweight actors lead the cast of ‘Suicide Squad’ with Will Smith as the comics fan favourite assassin Deadshot, and Oscar winning Jared Leto reviving the character of Joker, after the last performance by Heath Ledger won him a posthumous Oscar for his performance. By now it’s clearly obvious that Leto’s portrayal of Joker will be vastly different from that of Ledger’s, however, his performance has become one of the most anticipated elements of the ‘Suicide Squad’ film, almost over shadowing other aspects of the movie. ‘Suicide Squad’ also stars Jai Courtney (‘Terminator: Genisys’) as Captain Boomerang, and Karen Fukuhara as Katana, both characters that having already appeared in The CW’s ‘Arrow’, although portrayed by different actors, along with a different Deadshot as well.

Scene from ‘Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice’ San Diego Comic Con 2015 Trailer

‘Suicide Squad’ is definitely an experiment for both DC & Warner Brothers, as it may seem like putting all their (villainous) eggs into one basket. If successful, the movie may establish the need for super heroes within this universe with such dangerous villains running amok. The movie may also just be an establishing film that provides background into other characters, such as Batman’s history through Joker. ‘Suicide Squad’ definitely has a Joker connection as seen in the San Diego Comic Con 2015 Trailer for ‘Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice’, implying that a comics storyline where Joker kills the 2nd Robin, Jason Todd, has happened in this Movie Universe. Scott Eastwood, also cast in ‘Suicide Squad’ has had his role be a mystery throughout production, causing many rumours pointing to his playing another fan favourite comics character, Deathstroke. With the Batman / Joker backstory being a potential storyline of ‘Suicide Squad’, could also be possible that Eastwood plays Jason Todd in a flashback sequence recreating the infamous comics storyline?

Whatever the case, ‘Suicide Squad’ will be crucial for DC & WB, while establishing a different model of shared movie universes, than what’s been done so far.

‘Suicide Squad’ releases August 5th, 2016. Starring Will Smith, Joel Kinnaman, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Cara Delevingne, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje & Viola Davis. Directed by David Ayer.