209-820: The Suicide Squad is a 2021 American superhero film based on the DC Comics team Suicide Squad . Produced by DC Films , Atlas Entertainment , and the Safran Company , and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures , it is a standalone sequel to Suicide Squad (2016) and the 10th film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film was written and directed by James Gunn and stars an ensemble cast including Margot Robbie , Idris Elba , John Cena , Joel Kinnaman , Sylvester Stallone , Viola Davis , David Dastmalchian , Daniela Melchior , Michael Rooker , Jai Courtney , Peter Capaldi , Alice Braga , and Pete Davidson . In
418-751: A cameo appearance during a break from his work on Saturday Night Live . Davidson agreed to join the film because his character is called " Dick Hertz ", which Davidson found to be funny. A table read for the film with the full cast was held on September 11, ahead of the start of filming later that month. Gunn later announced the film's full main cast and characters: Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Cena as Peacemaker, Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Joaquín Cosío as Mateo Suarez, Fillion as T.D.K. , Kinnaman as Rick Flag, Mayling Ng as Mongal , Borg as Javelin , his brother Sean Gunn as Weasel , Juan Diego Botto as Silvio Luna, Reid as Tyla, Davidson as Blackguard, Waititi as
627-728: A co-production with Thailand . This rise in popularity of television superheroes in Japan led to the start of the Kamen Rider and Super Sentai franchises by famous manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori in 1971 and 1975, respectively. Similarly to Ultraman , many early Kamen Rider and Super Sentai episodes were released as films. Original Kamen Rider films released before 1978 include Kamen Rider vs. Shocker , Kamen Rider vs. Ambassador Hell , Kamen Rider V3 vs. Destron Mutants, and Five Riders vs. King Dark . Original superhero characters emerged in other, more comedy-oriented films , such as
836-516: A kryptonite bullet, DuBois is coerced by Amanda Waller into joining the Suicide Squad, and is sent with Peacemaker, King Shark, Ratcatcher 2 and her pet rat Sebastian, and Polka-Dot Man to destroy the starfish-like alien Starro in Jötunheim, a Nazi-era research facility, having to do with Project Starfish on the island nation of Corto Maltese, which was taken over by an anti-American coup and could use
1045-472: A sequel , Barb Wire (1996), The Phantom (1996), Black Mask (1996), Chouriki Sentai Ohranger: Ole vs. Kakuranger (1996), Revive! Ultraman (1996), Gekisou Sentai Carranger vs. Ohranger (1997) and Steel (1997). Marvel Comics ' Captain America (1991) did not have a theatrical release , and Roger Corman 's The Fantastic Four (1994) was produced solely for the legal maintenance of
1254-593: A "brave and smart move" and called him "the right man for the job". Dave Bautista , who starred in the Guardians of the Galaxy films for Gunn, expressed interest in appearing in his Suicide Squad film. One of the first things Gunn did when discussing the film with Warner Bros. was watch Suicide Squad for the first time. The studio said he could take or leave any elements he wanted from the first film, but they hoped that he would bring back Robbie as Harley Quinn. The day after he
1463-457: A car accident that also kills his mother, Elinore. Rebuilt into a cyborg by his estranged father, Silas , Victor is recruited by Wonder Woman and Batman to join the Justice League. Initially refusing to join at first, he joins the team after his father is endangered and the device that rebuilt him, one of three Mother Boxes, is being sought by Steppenwolf. Victor provides the team key intel on
1672-472: A cartoon character called "Ultra Bunny" on it. Gunn drew the character, and added the text "obstacles are opportunities" which is his slogan when directing on set. Gunn initially used a hammerhead shark design from the New 52 comics for King Shark, but found that it would be awkward to film the character with other actors due to his eyes being on the sides of his head. Gunn settled on a great white shark design that
1881-457: A cliff into the sea. Manta is later found and rescued by Stephen Shin , and makes a deal with Shin to tell him more about Atlantis in exchange for helping him track down Aquaman. In the DCEU's continuity, the title "Black Manta" was first conferred on Kane's grandfather as a nickname when he was working as a frogman for the U.S. Navy during World War II ; Kane's grandfather turns to piracy when he
2090-408: A deep motivation to achieve financial success in life. He started his own business, Black Gold Cooperative, initially as a one-man operation and changed his surname name from "Lorenzano" to "Lord". Gradually, Max convinced financiers, most prominently Simon Stagg, to invest in his company, which tasked itself with oil exploration in areas that other companies had ignored. Max finally attains control of
2299-622: A destructive force such as Starro. He also notes that American interference in Corto Maltese is "as every bit as disastrous as the 2003 Iraq invasion," also commenting that The Suicide Squad depicts the U.S. government as "bumbling" and "corrupt", citing the squad's accidental slaughter of the very fighters they were supposed to protect and Amanda Waller's desire to cover up America's role in Project Starfish and ambivalence towards Starro's rampage. Reuben Baron of Comic Book Resources compares
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#17328526395202508-569: A few different vocal gymnastics trying to figure out the voice". Porter was unfamiliar with the Darkseid character upon being cast, but Zack Snyder and screenwriter Chris Terrio helped guide him with their knowledge of the comic book lore. Ishmael Gregor (portrayed by Marwan Kenzari ) is the leader of the Kahndaq faction of Intergang , an international criminal organization. He poses as an associate of archaeologist Adrianna Tomaz , who seeks to find
2717-451: A funny, fast-paced rebound that plays to the source material's violent, anarchic strengths." On Metacritic , the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 55 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the same score that the first film and Birds of Prey received, while PostTrak reported that 83% of audience members gave it
2926-478: A god could kill another god). Diana fights off the temptation, seeing the good in mankind, and overpowers Ares after Steve's death, killing the God of War by redirecting his lightning at him with her Bracelets of Submission . In Justice League and its director's cut, stuntman Nick McKinless physically played the role, with Thewlis's face digitally superimposed over his. Ignacio Carapax (portrayed by Raoul Trujillo ),
3135-604: A hard drive with the evidence, and later attempts to kill Ratcatcher 2 when she also refuses to hand over the drive, but is thwarted by Bloodsport, who shoots him in the neck. Peacemaker is later revealed to have survived and watched over by Amanda Waller's subordinates for Project Butterfly as he recovers in a comatose state. Cena reprises the role in the 2022 series Peacemaker as member of Clemson Murn's team of A.R.G.U.S. agents to prevent an invasion by parasitic Butterfly aliens, exploring Peacemaker's relationship with his white supremacist father and how Flag's death affected him. Cena
3344-581: A hero until Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964). By the 1970s, Godzilla came to be viewed as a superhero, with the magazine King of the Monsters in 1977 describing Godzilla as "Superhero of the '70s". Donald F. Glut wrote that Godzilla was "the most universally popular superhero of 1977." The year 1966 saw the debut of the Ultra Series with the kaiju TV show Ultra Q . However, with
3553-457: A high respect for Deadshot, something that even Rick Flag points out. After Deadshot helps take down Enchantress , Waller rewards Lawton with ten years taken off his sentence and visitation hours with his daughter. The DCEU version of Deadshot is African-American as opposed to Caucasian in the comics. In addition, David Ayer 's original version of Suicide Squad had him become romantically involved with Harley Quinn. Smith signed on to reprise
3762-399: A later roster for the Suicide Squad. Described by The Suicide Squad director James Gunn as the "biggest douchebag in the universe," Smith claims in the film that he loves peace so much, that "[he doesn't] care how many men, women, and children [he has to] kill to get it". Working with Bloodsport, Ratcatcher 2, King Shark, and Polka-Dot Man, Peacemaker sets out with his teammates to take out
3971-460: A later roster of the Suicide Squad. Harley's character arc in the films sees her go from being defined by her abusive relationship with Joker to becoming more independent and willing to help society, despite her malevolent tendencies and chaotic, unpredictable personality. Robbie stated that it took three hours to prepare her hair, makeup and costume for the role and "at least 45 minutes" to take it off. Floyd Lawton (portrayed by Will Smith )
4180-458: A mercenary and his compassion for others, also having a strained relationship with his ex-wife and the mother of his daughter, Zoe. Lawton is apprehended by Batman while shopping with Zoe, and is blackmailed by Amanda Waller into joining the Suicide Squad during his incarceration. He strikes up a friendship with fellow squad members Harley Quinn and Chato Santana / El Diablo , and despite the squad not getting along at first, its members appear to have
4389-501: A metahuman who can detach his arms from his body; Flula Borg as Gunter Braun / Javelin , a former Olympic athlete who wields javelins as weapons; Mayling Ng as Mongal , an alien mass murderer; and Sean Gunn as Weasel , an anthropomorphic weasel whose portrayal is based on Bill the Cat from the comic strip Bloom County . James Gunn said Weasel was "barely more than an animal" which raised some ethical questions about his involvement in
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#17328526395204598-710: A metahuman with the ability to move at supersonic speeds, along with time-traveling abilities. As his father Henry was wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and Barry's mother Nora, Barry seeks to prove his father's innocence while occasionally engaging in vigilantism with his superpowers. Batman discovers Barry upon recruiting metahumans to join the Justice League upon the forces of Apokolips arriving on Earth. First cast in 2014, Miller made cameo appearances in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Suicide Squad (2016) before appearing properly in Justice League (2017) and
4807-612: A more realistic arc in his DCEU films as opposed to in the past and not be a "one-dimensional Boy Scout ". Bruce Wayne (portrayed by Ben Affleck ) is the multibillionaire CEO of Wayne Enterprises , but secretly moonlights as the feared vigilante Batman in an effort to battle crime in Gotham City , taking inspiration from his parents' deaths and his fear of bats to crack down on criminal activity. He has been active as Batman for 20 years prior to Clark Kent's emergence as Superman, becoming jaded and disillusioned over time, especially after
5016-645: A new mission with Peacemaker, who is still alive and recovering in a hospital. In addition to playing King Shark on set, Steve Agee portrays John Economos , an A.R.G.U.S. agent who is an aide to Waller. Other aides to Waller include Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt and Tinashe Kajese as Flo Crawley, the aide who knocked out Amanda Waller before she could execute the squad and was later arrested in Peacemaker . The ill-fated first Suicide Squad team includes Savant, Captain Boomerang, and Blackguard, as well as Nathan Fillion as Cory Pitzner / T.D.K. (The Detachable Kid),
5225-451: A new story than continue an existing franchise; Collet-Serra went on to direct the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film Black Adam (2022). In August, Jared Leto was expected to reprise his role as the Joker from the first film, while production was not expected to begin until Smith completed his work on Aladdin (2019) and Gemini Man (2019) in late 2018. The next month, Gavin O'Connor
5434-569: A one-month premiere streaming window. This was done as part of Warner Bros.'s joint theatrical and streaming release strategy for 2021 films that was announced in December 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Reflecting on this release strategy in January 2022, Gunn acknowledged suggestions that it negatively impacted on the film's box office performance and said the approach was not ideal for the film. He added that
5643-503: A plane ride headed for certain doom" and also said that the film "is a bloody marvel that blows up the superhero genre." Justin Chang from Los Angeles Times stated: "After 2016's ugly, bludgeoning Suicide Squad , I couldn't imagine liking—and could barely stomach the idea of seeing—another movie called Suicide Squad . I'm delighted to be proven wrong", and called the film "redemption for James Gunn and DC". Richard Trenholm of CNET gave
5852-459: A poor household with a violent father. Induced by his father's aggressive behavior he develops as an anxious child and prone to bed-wetting. At school, Max was frequently the subject of taunts and bullying for his comparative poverty to the other students who made fun of his tatty clothes, worn-out shoes, and small amount of food for lunch. Due to a lack of money, he was not able to attend college after finishing school. These experiences imbued Max with
6061-474: A positive score compared to 73% for the first film. 62% told PostTrak that they would definitely recommend the film. Reviewing for The A.V. Club , Katie Rife gave the film a "B+" grade and said, "Now that superhero movies have gone from disreputable entertainment for children to global events ushered in with awed reverence, it was time for someone to come along and pop the balloon. Pulpy and outrageous, irreverent and ultraviolent, The Suicide Squad does so with
6270-557: A potential future world ruled by Darkseid in Zack Snyder's Justice League . This iteration of the Joker was met with polarized reviews, especially in the theatrically released version of Suicide Squad . However, director David Ayer and Leto both revealed that the studio cut out much of the Joker's footage in the film, which arguably cut down his characterization in the theatrical release. David Kane (portrayed by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II )
6479-449: A real environment. Because of the mixture of characters that Gunn selected for the film's Suicide Squad roster, there are "dorky comics costumes" alongside "modern, scary, grimdark" costumes. One of the biggest costume challenges for Gunn was creating Bloodsport's suit, from which the character can form various weapons. Robbie wears a new costume that features Harley's traditional red and black color palette, with Gunn taking inspiration from
The Suicide Squad (film) - Misplaced Pages Continue
6688-465: A script, leading Eastwood to be unaware of the plans he was signing up for, so after seeking advice from his father Clint , Scott declined to return because he didn't feel Warner really needed him back and wasn't answering his questions. In April, the film's creative team decided that Elba would play a new character rather than Deadshot. This decision was made, following weeks of discussions that included Gunn and Elba, to be respectful to Smith and allow him
6897-417: A sequel. Filming was planned to begin in 2017 after the pair completed their work on the film Bright (2017). Karen Fukuhara expressed her interest in fleshing out Tatsu Yamashiro / Katana 's backstory in a sequel, though she also noted that if not, that could be in a spin-off film of her own. In September, Ayer said the first film had been rated PG-13 because it had originally been envisioned that way by
7106-427: A sequel. Several spin-off films were also in development by December, including one featuring Smith as Deadshot . The project that was furthest along was Gotham City Sirens , an all-female team-up film with Margot Robbie planned to reprise her role as Harley Quinn . Ayer was set to direct and produce that film rather than Suicide Squad 2 . Warner Bros. began searching for a new director for Suicide Squad 2 , and
7315-545: A series of animated short films based on the Superman comic book . In the following decades, the decline of Saturday matinee showings of serials along with turmoil in the comic book industry slowed superhero motion picture production, with the exception of Superman and the Mole Men (1951) starring George Reeves , and Batman (1966), a big-screen extension of the Batman television series starring Adam West . Superman and
7524-424: A shot in the film where King Shark, who is created with visual effects, rips a person in half, which was done practically using special effects and prosthetics. Stunt supervisor Guy Norris served as second unit director for the car scenes in the film. Gunn explained that he rarely uses second unit directors on his films and has never liked working with them, but he enjoyed the experience of working with Norris as he
7733-451: A smile." Writing for Variety , Owen Gleiberman called the film what "the first Suicide Squad should have been" and said that " The Suicide Squad comes sizzlingly alive as all-cylinders comic-book moviemaking. There's a frowsy destructive joy to the staging". Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent also praised the film and considered it an improvement over Suicide Squad , writing "Gunn's distinct and self-assured vision, which he's said
7942-674: A superhero, Reyes became Blue Beetle , following the legacy of Ted Kord . Ares (portrayed by David Thewlis ) is the Olympian God of War and the last surviving member of the Old Gods by the events of Wonder Woman . Despite originally aiding the forces of Earth against the first invasion from Apokolips as seen in both versions of Justice League , Ares turns on his fellow gods and goddesses as he comes to resent humanity, causing mankind to wage war among itself and killing his brothers and sisters until Zeus drives him off Mount Olympus and uses
8151-512: Is Ares at first after hearing Steve Trevor's account of the war. She attempts to assassinate him at a gala he hosts until Steve stops her to avoid blowing their cover. When Ludendorff deploys his mustard gas on an innocent village during a demonstration at the gala, Diana confronts him again as he prepares to attack London with a larger dose, getting her vengeance on him. However, the war does not end when Diana kills him, leaving her confused and disillusioned until Sir Patrick Morgan reveals himself as
8360-418: Is a Black British mercenary, has a daughter named Tyla and often butts heads with Peacemaker while developing an emotional bond with Cleo, despite his fear of rats . He has a battle-hardened, no-nonsense attitude but is compassionate for those he cares for. After learning that American astronauts captured Starro and discovering the inhumane experiments of Project Starfish, DuBois saves Cleo from Peacemaker, who
8569-418: Is a New God who is the tyrannical ruler of Apokolips and the master of Steppenwolf and DeSaad . While he is merely mentioned in the theatrical version of Justice League , the character makes his first on-screen appearance in the director's cut, with his scenes being restored. The "Snyder Cut" portrays Darkseid, then named Uxas, leading the invasion of Earth prior to his rise to power. As Uxas prepares to use
The Suicide Squad (film) - Misplaced Pages Continue
8778-498: Is a shared universe centered on a group of film franchises based on characters by DC Comics and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures . Despite numerous film franchise in the past on characters such as Superman and Batman , none of those film series were connected. The DCEU debuted in 2013 with Man of Steel , centered on Superman , and has grown to include other characters such as Batman , Wonder Woman , and several others included in this list. The shared universe, much like
8987-547: Is a college graduate from Palmera City who tried to help pay off his family's debts by working at Kord Industries, but accidentally bonded with biotechnological alien Khaji-Da. In an attempt to get rid of the beetle, Reyes teamed up with Jenny Kord and his uncle Rudy Reyes to do so, being chased by Victoria Kord and coming into conflict with Ignacio Carapax. After the death of his father Alberto Reyes and his capture on Pago Island, Reyes regained his trust, accepting Khaji-Da and fighting Kord Industries to save his family. Accepting to be
9196-655: Is a genre centered on superheroes and their adventures, with characters often possessing superhuman abilities or exceptional skills. Superhero films typically blend elements of action , adventure , fantasy , or science fiction . The first film about a particular superhero character often focuses on the hero's origin story , and typically introduces the hero's nemesis. Many superhero films are adaptations of existing works. Superhero comics from publishers such as Marvel , DC , and Dark Horse ( The Umbrella Academy universe) have frequently been adapted into film. Others are based on television properties, such as films from
9405-557: Is a mischievous and troubled teenager from Philadelphia in the foster-care system. Having been abandoned at a carnival at a young age by his single mother, Marilyn, Billy has gained a reputation as a "problem child", repeatedly escaping from foster homes and hijacking police cruisers to locate his mother. After being apprehended again, Billy is placed into the home of the Vazquez family, which also has other foster children such as Freddy Freeman and Mary Bromfield . Upon returning from school on
9614-597: Is a nefarious businesswoman who is the CEO of Kord Industries, the sister of Ted Kord, and the aunt of Jenny Kord . Jealous for not getting the position of her father's company, Victoria was filled with anger and revenge against her brother, finding Khaji-Da Scarab to create cybernetic soldiers called OMAC, starting with Ignacio Carapax , which brought him into conflict with Jenny Kord and Khaji-Da's host Jaime Reyes , but despite their efforts, Victoria failed in her plans, being killed/betrayed by Carapax. Following Victoria's death, Jenny
9823-477: Is a pirate and mercenary working alongside his father, Jesse. The two lead a strike force contracted by King Orm to hijack a Russian Akula -class submarine , which is foiled by Aquaman sometime after the Justice League defeats Steppenwolf. Arthur dispatches the pirates and inadvertently traps Jesse in the submarine when the Kanes attempt to kill him, leaving Jesse to drown despite his son's pleas. A vengeful Kane escapes
10032-571: Is a troubled Guatemalan lieutenant who, after suffering injuries in battle, began working with Victoria Kord, becoming a OMAC , powerful soldier with armor and cybernetic enhancements, will after being experimented on by Kord Industries. Serving as Victoria's right-hand, he helped her to find biotechnological alien Khaji-Da, coming into conflict with Jaime Reyes to get the relic, gaining new powers until Reyes spared his life, causing Carapax to redeem himself, sacrificing himself to kill Kord. Darkseid (portrayed by Ray Porter ), originally known as Uxas ,
10241-455: Is adapted in the film as different gadgets and transforming weaponry that come from his costume. Bloodsport's ability to send Superman to the ICU was referenced from the character's first comics appearance in 1987, arguably making him more formidable in the films' universe. Christopher Smith (portrayed by John Cena ), also known as Peacemaker , is a ruthless, jingoistic mercenary recruited into
10450-639: Is an immortal Amazon warrior from the hidden island of Themyscira who is the daughter of Hippolyta , the queen of the Amazons and the Greek God, Zeus , the king of the Olympians. Upon venturing to the world of Men after Steve Trevor crash-lands on Themyscira and warns of a global conflict threatening the world , Diana begins protecting mankind as Wonder Woman , secretly living amongst humanity while ending conflicts for nearly 100 years and gradually learning more about
10659-414: Is introduced as the main protagonist of Suicide Squad as the "most wanted hitman in the world", Deadshot . Trained to kill with precision using a wide variety of weapons, including even a potato cannon , Deadshot maintains a professional persona as long as he is paid, holding a moral code to never kill women or children, and has a tough, sarcastic personality. However, he is also torn between his career as
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#173285263952010868-573: Is raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville , Kansas . As the Sun's radiation enhances his cells, Clark develops superhuman abilities, but struggles with his identity when Jonathan reveals his otherworldly origins. After Jonathan's death, Clark travels the world trying to find himself and eventually discovers his true identity after finding a Kryptonian scout ship. He eventually embraces his powers after learning from his biological father's hologram, gaining
11077-459: Is similar to the one seen in the Harley Quinn animated series, though this was a coincidence as that series was released after filming for The Suicide Squad began. Gunn gave King Shark a dad bod to make him look less like a mammal, as well as small eyes, a big mouth, and a small head to avoid the "cute anthropomorphic beast" design seen in popular characters like Baby Groot from Guardians of
11286-498: Is sworn in as the new CEO of Kord Industries. Max Lord (portrayed by Pedro Pascal ) is a struggling yet charismatic oil businessman and television personality . He is the owner of Black Gold Oil located in Washington, D.C. , and hopes to gain possession of an ancient powerful relic which has the power to grant wishes known as the "Dreamstone". He also has a young son named Alistair Lord. Born "Maxwell Lorenzano", Max Lord grew up in
11495-526: Is the archenemy of Batman, the ex-boyfriend of Harley Quinn, and a ruthless crime lord in Gotham City . Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice alludes to Joker murdering Batman's protégé Dick Grayson prior to the film's events. Joker first meets Harley, then a budding psychiatrist named Dr. Harleen Quinzel, while imprisoned during a flashback seen in Suicide Squad . She falls madly in love with him and goes great lengths to be with him after he escapes prison, and
11704-616: The Ultraman Tiga TV series led to several films based on it and later installments, including Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light (1998), Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace (1999) and Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey (2000). Adam Sternbergh of Vulture.com has stated that The Matrix (1999) was influenced by comic books, cyberpunk fiction, Japanese anime , and Hong Kong action films , reinvented
11913-547: The Unbreakable film series , Hancock , Darkman and They Call Me Jeeg , were developed as original projects for the screen. According to box office income figures from Box Office Mojo , the highest-grossing superhero film franchises since 1967 include Tsuburaya Productions ' Ultra Series , Toei Company 's Kamen Rider and Super Sentai , New Line Cinema 's Blade , 20th Century Fox 's X-Men , Sony Pictures ' Spider-Man trilogy directed by Sam Raimi ,
12122-529: The Amazing Spider-Man duology directed by Marc Webb , Pixar 's The Incredibles , Christopher Nolan 's Dark Knight Trilogy , the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The MCU alone has earned over $ 31 billion. The MCU film Avengers: Endgame (2019) is the highest-grossing superhero film to date, grossing $ 2,797,501,328 worldwide. It briefly held
12331-511: The Anti-Life Equation and the three Mother Boxes to conquer the Earth, a coalition of warriors, which includes mankind, Atlanteans , Amazons , Old Gods , and a Green Lantern , counterattack, forcing his retreat after grievously injuring him and separating the boxes. While he recovers and takes over the throne of Apokolips over the course of millennia, the location of the equation is lost and
12540-549: The French political satire film Mr. Freedom (1969), the Polish parody Hydrozagadka (1970), and the American B movies Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (1966) and The Wild World of Batwoman (1966). Following the success of Star Wars which increased interest in fantasy and science fiction films, Richard Donner 's Superman (1978), the first major big-budget DC feature film,
12749-574: The Holocaust , bestiality and 9/11 . Warner Bros. had been interested in recruiting Gunn for the DCEU immediately after his dismissal by Disney and asked him to make a new Superman film. Gunn was uncertain if he wanted to take on Superman, so Warner Bros. told him that he could adapt any DC property he liked. He chose to make a Suicide Squad film, recalling that it was the one DC property he dreamed of adapting and had been jealous when Ayer's Suicide Squad film performed well. Ayer supported Gunn's hiring as
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#173285263952012958-464: The Imperial German Army during the waning days of the war, enlisting Dr. Maru to create a deadlier, hydrogen-based variant of mustard gas in an attempt to turn the tide of battle. Ludendorff is portrayed as ruthless and unforgiving, willing to kill combatants and civilians on both sides of the war to achieve his goals, including fellow German generals negotiating to surrender. Diana believes he
13167-600: The Joker , falling madly in love with him and being swayed to insanity and a life of crime by the "Clown Prince" of crime. Picking up the moniker Harley Quinn , she and Joker terrorize Gotham City until she is apprehended by Batman. She is later recruited by Amanda Waller along with Deadshot and other criminals into Task Force X, also known as the Suicide Squad , before Joker breaks her out. Birds of Prey explores Harley's misadventures and personal development after she breaks up with Joker, while The Suicide Squad (2021) sees her re-incarcerated and sent on another mission with
13376-665: The " Suicide Squad ", which consists of Belle Reve penitentiary inmates who agree to carry out a mission in exchange for shortened sentences. The teams are sent to the South American island nation of Corto Maltese after an anti-American regime overthrows its government, and are tasked with destroying the Nazi -era laboratory Jötunheim, which houses the secret experiment "Project Starfish". The Corto Maltese military almost entirely wipes out one team upon landing, with only team leader Colonel Rick Flag and Harley Quinn surviving. The ambush on
13585-401: The "moral repercussions" of those characters. Elba was reportedly originally cast to replace Will Smith as Deadshot, but the character was changed to Bloodsport to allow Smith to reprise his role in the future; Gunn did not change the story that he had written for Elba, and just chose Bloodsport because he liked the character in the comics. The character's comic book ability to manifest weapons
13794-837: The 1980s include Denshi Sentai Denziman: The Movie (1980), Flash Gordon (1980), Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan: The Movie (1981), Dai Sentai Goggle V: The Movie (1982), Swamp Thing (1982), Kagaku Sentai Dynaman: The Movie (1983), its sequel , Superman III (1983), Choudenshi Bioman: The Movie (1984), Supergirl (1984), Ultraman Zoffy: Ultra Warriors vs. the Giant Monster Army (1984), Ultraman Story (1984), Dengeki Sentai Changeman: The Movie and Dengeki Sentai Changeman: Shuttle Base! The Critical Moment! (1985), The Toxic Avenger (1985), Choushinsei Flashman: The Movie (1986), Choushinsei Flashman: Big Rally! Titan Boy! (1987), Hikari Sentai Maskman: The Movie (1987), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), Masters of
14003-468: The 1980s. However, Gal Gadot, who co-produced the film, stated that any similarities to Trump were coincidental. Conversely, director Patty Jenkins commented that Lord's character is modeled on Bernie Madoff and Trump. A highly fictionalized version of the real-life German general who fought in World War I , Erich Ludendorff (portrayed by Danny Huston ) is a pragmatic, iron-fisted tactician who leads
14212-411: The 2012 summer film market, with three films occupying the top three positions of the box office chart. These were Marvel's The Avengers (May 2012), which broke box office records as the highest-grossing superhero film of all time, The Dark Knight Rises (July 20, 2012), and The Amazing Spider-Man (July 12, 2012). Rick Flag (DC Extended Universe) The DC Extended Universe (DCEU)
14421-552: The 2021 director's cut Zack Snyder's Justice League . Miller would later make future appearances as the character in the Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019-2020) and the season one finale of Peacemaker . Miller reprised the role in The Flash (2023), the first ever solo film for the character. Victor Stone (portrayed by Ray Fisher ) is a former college football player who suffers devastating injuries in
14630-487: The DCEU films Aquaman (2018) and Shazam! (2019), had pushed Gunn to take on the project and felt there was no better director to "bring together a disparate group of outsiders on a mission". We really wanted to make sure that this stands on its own two feet. So... it's not a sequel, but there are some characters that were in the first movie, right? So it's not really a full reboot either. So we just call it James Gunn's The Suicide Squad . —Producer Peter Safran on
14839-504: The Dead (2021). John Cena entered talks for a role in the film that was believed to be Peacemaker in late April, as Gunn had wanted to work with Cena since seeing his performance in Trainwreck (2015). Cena made numerous unsuccessful attempts to join the DCEU prior to his casting in this film. David Dastmalchian and Daniela Melchior were respectively cast as Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher 2 at
15048-609: The Dreamstone after deceiving Barbara Miverva, wishing to "become the stone". As a result, he gains the stone's powers and starts granting wishes to people around the globe, but starts to physically deteriorate. Wonder Woman later confronts him, showing the pain he inflicts on his son by being distant from him, and convinces him to renounce his wish, after which he reconciles with Alistair. Critics have compared Pascal's interpretation of Max Lord in Wonder Woman 1984 to Donald Trump during
15257-513: The Galaxy Vol. 2 and The Mandalorian (2019–present) ' s Grogu . Principal photography began on September 20, 2019, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia , under the working title El Dorado . Henry Braham served as cinematographer, after previously doing so for Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 . Feige and Marvel Studios co-president Louis D'Esposito visited
15466-483: The HBO Max availability and feelings about the first film outweighed the impacts of the pandemic, and noted that other films had made significantly more money at the box office in recent weeks. Writing for Forbes , Scott Mendelson felt that general audiences would not be compelled by Gunn's involvement and instead would see the film as a sequel without the main draws of the first film, such as Will Smith. Mendelson added that
15675-545: The Japanese Ultraman , Kamen Rider , and Super Sentai franchises. Both Underdog and The Powerpuff Girls are based on their respective animated television series. The Green Hornet is based primarily on the original radio series and its 1960s television adaptation . Anime superhero films are often based on manga and television shows . Some superhero films, like the RoboCop series, The Meteor Man ,
15884-413: The Joker because he felt Amanda Waller would not have any use for the character, and chose not to use Kite Man because he felt the character was already a punchline in the comics and would not feel fresh for the film. Gunn also avoided characters like Bronze Tiger and Katana since they are antiheroes rather than villains. Gunn felt he was in a position, and had the responsibility, to take risks with
16093-704: The Mole Men served as a pilot for the TV series Adventures of Superman . Compilations of the series were later released theatrically. In 1957, Shintoho produced the first film serial featuring the tokusatsu superhero character, Super Giant , signaling a shift in Japanese popular culture toward masked superheroes in tokusatsu . Along with Astro Boy , the Super Giant film series greatly influenced later Japanese tokusatsu superhero films. Moonlight Mask also became popular around that time, with six films retelling
16302-456: The Mother Boxes are hidden by the Amazons, Atlanteans, and humans. After Steppenwolf is alerted to the presence of the boxes and equation on Earth, he informs Darkseid, who entices his disgraced uncle and lieutenant to seize both so he can use the equation to take over the multiverse . Darkseid opens a portal to Earth when the Mother Boxes are nearly synchronized, only to see Barry Allen undo
16511-588: The Shazam Family and restore their home realm using the Golden Apple from Hera's sacred tree, while Kalypso also intended to terraform Earth with Shazam's Magic staff. When Hespera and Anthea objected, Kalypso mortally wounded Hespera and depowered Anthea before planting the Apple and attacking Philadelphia with her army of mythical creatures until her demise by Billy Batson. Victoria Kord (portrayed by Susan Sarandon )
16720-490: The Shazam Family and restore their home realm using the Golden Apple from Hera's sacred tree, while Kalypso also intended to terraform Earth with Shazam's Staff of the Gods. When Hespera and Anthea objected, Kalypso mortally wounded Hespera before planting the Apple and attacking Philadelphia with her army of mythical creatures, but Hespera helped Billy defeat her in her last moments before dying. The Joker (portrayed by Jared Leto )
16929-454: The Thinker when they exit a Corto Maltese bar. Gunn felt the latter was "pretty dynamite stuff" but it was slowing down the film and at the wrong time. A smaller scene that was cut involved Waller's aide Flo Crawley being arrested for knocking Waller out during the final battle; Gunn explained that this was a mostly unnecessary detail which made the audience feel uncomfortable since it felt less like
17138-605: The Unity by entering the Speed Force . This allows the Justice League to separate the boxes and kill Steppenwolf, throwing his body back through the portal to Darkseid's feet. An enraged Darkseid then tells Desaad to "ready the armada" and use the "old ways" to reclaim the Anti-Life Equation, with the Mother Boxes no longer able to be used to conquer planets. Porter played Darkseid through the use of motion capture and "went through
17347-765: The Universe (1987), Bollywood 's Mr. India (1987), Ultraman: The Adventure Begins (1987), Kousoku Sentai Turboranger: The Movie (1989), and The Punisher (1989). The success of Tim Burton 's Batman (1989) and its direct follow-up, Batman Returns (1992), spawned the DC Animated Universe . Superhero movies from the 1990s include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) and its two sequels , RoboCop 2 (1990), Darkman (1990), Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue (1992), RoboCop 3 (1993),
17556-521: The alien as a weapon against other countries. DuBois and his teammates successfully infiltrate the island, connect with pro-democracy insurgents planning to retake the island, and rescue Rick Flag and Harley Quinn, which unknown to the team, were sent to the island with an earlier squad, which was merely a deliberate decoy by Waller to let the other team infiltrate the island unnoticed. As characterized in The Suicide Squad , this iteration of Bloodsport
17765-490: The amount of character growth that he goes through. Gunn wrote King Shark with Sylvester Stallone in mind, but tested three other voice actors before asking Stallone to join the film. Stallone agreed to voice the character due to his experience working with Gunn on the MCU film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). Gunn was looking to cast Bautista as Peacemaker, but the actor had a scheduling conflict with Zack Snyder's Army of
17974-545: The animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), Kamen Rider ZO (1993), Kamen Rider J (1994), Gosei Sentai Dairanger: The Movie , The Shadow (1994), The Mask (1994), Ninja Sentai Kakuranger: The Movie (1994), Blankman (1994), Chouriki Sentai Ohranger: The Movie (1995), Batman Forever (1995), Judge Dredd (1995), Tank Girl (1995), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) and
18183-483: The bases". Some critics have interpreted The Suicide Squad as a critique and even a parody of American foreign policy and noted some anti-imperialist themes, which was arguably done in greater extent than the film's predecessor. Noah Berlatsky of Foreign Policy compares the rationale of the Suicide Squad's intervention in the Corto Maltese civil war to the 2003 invasion of Iraq on the grounds of an anti-American regime purportedly gaining access to and weaponizing
18392-496: The biggest HBO Max debut for a DC film, ahead of both Wonder Woman 1984 (2.2 million) and Zack Snyder's Justice League (1.8 million). While discussing Nielsen Media Research 's streaming ratings—which HBO Max does not participate in—for the week of the film's release, Forbes ' s Scott Mendelson estimated that around 369 million minutes of the film had been viewed based on Samba TV's figures, which would have placed it third on Nielsen's list of top streaming films for
18601-518: The biggest sets ever built for a Warner Bros. production. The Suicide Squad premiered theatrically in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2021. It was released in the United States on August 5, simultaneously in theaters and on the streaming service HBO Max . Although it underperformed at the box office after grossing just $ 169 million worldwide against a production budget of $ 185 million,
18810-400: The brilliance of James Gunn's characters and comedy", and Gunn was influenced by war films such as The Great Escape (1963), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Where Eagles Dare (1968), and Kelly's Heroes (1970). Already knowing the kind of story that he wanted to tell, Gunn's first step in writing the film was picking the characters for the Suicide Squad roster. He spent days going through
19019-588: The camera rotates out of a puddle's reflection on the ground to reveal Savant bouncing a ball—was a spontaneous decision that he made on set when he saw the reflections on the ground. For a scene where Bloodsport smokes a cigarette, Elba—who has asthma and does not smoke himself—was left with tears in his eyes that had to be removed digitally since Gunn otherwise liked the shot. Gunn said the film used more practical effects than any other blockbuster comic book film, with on-set special effects provided by Dan Sudick and prosthetics created by Legacy Effects . Gunn highlighted
19228-576: The cast in attendance. The cast members discussed their characters, and a design for Elba's costume as Bloodsport was revealed. Cena decided to wear the Peacemaker costume for interviews and other promotional events as a way to familiarize the audience with the lesser-known character, which was a tactic that he had previously used when he was a professional wrestler. The film's first trailer was released on March 26, 2021, with Alex McLevy of The A.V. Club praising its jokes and action. He felt everything about
19437-431: The character Deathstroke appeared in four or five different versions of the script to fight Deadshot. Joe Manganiello was attached to reprise his role as Deathstroke from Justice League (2017), and the experience left him feeling that he would never portray the character again until he was asked to return for Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021). In October 2018, James Gunn was hired to write and possibly direct
19646-502: The character had the most complete story arc at that point in the film. When acknowledging the first film's negative reception, Gunn said there were aspects of it that he loved and defended Ayer's casting choices; the first decision Gunn made on the new film was to bring back Robbie as Harley Quinn and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. On February 27, 2019, Smith was revealed to no longer be in the film's cast due to scheduling issues. On March 1, Gunn met with Idris Elba to discuss him joining
19855-407: The character's costume in the video game Batman: Arkham City (2011). He wanted her jacket to have "motorcycle gang style"-writing on the back, and chose "Live fast, die clown" over other potential options "Clown AF" and "World's Best Grandpa". Gunn also removed Harley's "Rotten" facial tattoo that she had in previous DCEU films because both he and Robbie disliked it. Flag wears a yellow T-shirt with
20064-556: The coldest". Alonso Duralde of the TheWrap wrote: " The Suicide Squad is by no means perfect, but like the Deadpool movies, it's a showcase for what can happen when a superhero movie is allowed to be sprightly, self-aware, and sardonic while also indulging in hard-R violence, gore, and language. Gunn's latest creation is not without moments that drag, but when it pops, it pops brilliantly". Entertainment Weekly ' s Leah Greenblatt gave
20273-501: The concept of " faster than a speeding bullet " on-screen. Inspector Gadget and Mystery Men would then follow to close out the decade for the sub-genre. Following the success of the Kamen Rider Kuuga television series, a new era of the Kamen Rider franchise began. This led to the production of annual Kamen Rider movies, starting with Kamen Rider Agito: Project G4 in 2001. The release of Iron Man in 2008 laid
20482-824: The concept of a man-eating fish-human hybrid. Other new characters that Gunn added include Polka-Dot Man , Peacemaker , and a female version of Ratcatcher . He said one of the main differences between this film and the Guardians of the Galaxy films was that it would be unclear whether some Suicide Squad members would turn out to be good or bad, unlike the Guardians of the Galaxy who are portrayed as heroes despite their flaws. Characters that were considered but ultimately rejected include Sportsmaster , Dogwelder , Bat-Mite , Livewire , Punch and Jewelee , Black Spider , Deathstroke, Man-Bat , Plastique , Chemo , KGBeast , Solomon Grundy , Rainbow Creature , Gunhawk, Knockout , Killer Frost , Mr. Freeze , and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II 's Black Manta from Aquaman . He did not consider using
20691-473: The crown of Sabbac and hide it from malevolent individuals, not knowing that Gregor is after the crown himself as the last descendant of the oppressive King Ahk-Ton, the creator of the crown. Gregor, like his ancestor, seeks the crown so he can harness its power and become the all-powerful ruler of Kahndaq. He kidnaps Adrianna's son Amon to coerce her into giving him the crown and get Teth-Adam's attention, manipulating Adam into killing him so he can be reborn with
20900-584: The crown's power as Sabbac . Kent Nelson / Doctor Fate realizes he and the Justice Society were wrong about Adam after seeing Sabbac's rampage, so Fate releases the apprehended Adam so he can defeat and kill Sabbac, which he does by ripping Sabbac in half, restoring order to Kahndaq and potentially the world. Hespera (portrayed by Helen Mirren ) is the eldest daughter of Atlas and the sister of Kalypso and Anthea. Millennia after Atlas' death, Hespera and her sisters sought to recover their father's stamina from
21109-492: The devices, and while working with the League, he learns to trust others again, overcome his trauma, and use his new abilities for the greater good, becoming instrumental in stopping Steppenwolf from terraforming Earth with the Mother Boxes. Following the battle, he accepts his new abilities and potential as Cyborg . Cyborg's character development in the theatrical cut of Justice League was controversially cut down and minimalized by
21318-477: The different stances on the government's actions that the film's main characters take leading to dramatic conflict. For the antagonist that Waller sends the Suicide Squad to fight, Gunn initially considered using Superman before deciding to feature Starro the Conqueror instead. He found the character to be both ridiculous and terrifying, which reflected what he was trying to accomplish with the film, and he felt Starro
21527-417: The drive falls into Ratcatcher 2's possession. Peacemaker attempts to kill her before she can escape with the drive, but Bloodsport shoots him and takes it. Starro escapes the destroyed Jötunheim, brutally kills the Thinker and much of the military, and begins taking control of the island's population. Waller tells the squad that their mission is complete and orders them to leave, but Bloodsport decides to lead
21736-399: The end of April. Gunn said the role of Polka-Dot Man was "tailor made" for Dastmalchian, who had been friends with Gunn for a long time. In contrast, Melchior was cast from a group of 200 actors. She did a chemistry test with live rats as part of her audition process because her character controls rats in the film and had to interact with them on set. Gunn's frequent collaborator Michael Rooker
21945-413: The experiments for decades using Corto Maltesean citizens as test subjects. An enraged Flag decides to leak a hard drive containing evidence of this but is killed by Peacemaker, who is under orders from Waller to cover up the U.S.'s involvement. Meanwhile, a skirmish between the rest of the team and the military leads to Polka-Dot Man accidentally setting off the explosives prematurely. As Jötunheim crumbles,
22154-415: The facility's accidental destruction by the team, Bloodsport defies Waller's orders to leave the island, inspiring the other squad members to defeat Starro and save the island from total destruction. Following the team's victory, he blackmails Waller into setting them free, airlifted off the island and still drop his daughter's trial, which Waller had threatened by incarcerated her if DuBois had refused to join
22363-428: The film PG-13, but he insisted on it being R-rated if he was going to direct it; the studio felt Gunn's involvement was "worth the trade-off" for the higher rating. He took inspiration from John Ostrander 's original 1980s run on the Suicide Squad comic books, which he was drawn to because it was about a "bunch of loser, B-grade supervillains". Safran described The Suicide Squad as a "gritty 1970s war movie combined with
22572-512: The film a C+ grade and wrote: "The script, accordingly, herks and jerks along with a sort of forced-festive glee, its mounting body count buffeted by goofball banter and pounding soundtrack cues. A good half of the jokes don't land, but unlike his predecessor's joyless slog, Gunn's version at least celebrates the nonsense." Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, and called it "a long, loud, often enjoyable and amusing film that blitzes your eyeballs and eardrums and covers all
22781-461: The film a positive review and praised it for its themes, writing "This irreverent comic book movie takes shots at very big and serious themes, raging against Western imperialism , American foreign policy and government deception as it indicts interference in foreign countries. Representing this chilling bureaucratic evil, Amanda Waller emerges as perhaps the most hateful villain in the DC universe — certainly
22990-415: The film are Amanda Waller and the U.S. government, who are trying to cover up their involvement in illegal experiments on the island of Corto Maltese . Gunn did not feel that this storyline was specifically critical of the U.S. government, just realistic given the real-world history of the U.S. interfering in other countries. He also wanted to use this to make dramatic points rather than political ones, with
23199-598: The film made $ 6.7 million from five countries, including $ 4.5 million in the United Kingdom and $ 1.6 million in France. The Suicide Squad expanded to 69 countries, covering all major markets except Japan, in its second week of international release. It made $ 35 million, finishing first in Russia ($ 4.2 million), Mexico ($ 2 million), Brazil ($ 1.4 million), Spain ($ 1.3 million), and Italy ($ 1 million), and only dropped 25% in markets that it opened in
23408-470: The film online during the pandemic and that it had otherwise been well received. The film was made available for digital purchase and rental on September 17, 2021, after leaving its HBO Max same day premiere window. The Suicide Squad was then released on DVD , Blu-ray , and Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 26, with special features including a commentary by Gunn, deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, three retro style trailers, breakdowns of key scenes from
23617-614: The film received generally positive reviews from critics and became the most-streamed DCEU film on HBO Max. The film's box office performance was attributed to factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic , the film's availability on HBO Max, and its relationship to the first Suicide Squad . Peacemaker , a spin-off television series starring Cena, debuted on HBO Max in January 2022. Two other spin-off series are in development for Max, including Waller . Intelligence officer Amanda Waller assembles two separate Task Force X teams, colloquially known as
23826-420: The film rights to the property and was therefore not released theatrically or on home video . Alex Proyas ' The Crow (1994) became the first independent comic superhero film to establish a franchise. The film introduced a level of violence not seen in previous superhero films targeted at younger audiences and bridged a gap to the more modern action film . The success of The Crow may have influenced
24035-423: The film to be "grey and drab and monotone" until the characters arrive in Corto Maltese, which he wanted to "explode with color" like Panama and Cuba . The design team took inspiration from photos of Havana , Cuba, and São Paulo , Brazil . Gunn said the film featured the biggest sets ever built for a Warner Bros. film, with Mickle building a set the size of three football fields for the outside of Jötunheim where
24244-420: The film was fully finished. Gunn said Warner Bros. had not interfered with his vision for the film and had only given a few minor notes. He added that The Suicide Squad was the most fun he had making a film, which he attributed to prioritizing creativity over perfectionism, being in the best place mentally and emotionally of his career, having a "stupendous" cast and crew and supportive studio, and feeling that he
24453-440: The film was widely pirated following its streaming debut, with a high quality version of the film appearing on piracy websites almost immediately after it was released on HBO Max. Internet technology company Akamai reported, based on global unlicensed streaming and torrent data, that The Suicide Squad was the sixth most pirated film between January and September 2021. Despite this, Gunn was grateful that people had been able to see
24662-451: The film with O'Connor in June, and they had completed their draft by that September. O'Connor left the film by early October to focus on The Way Back (2020). This was reportedly out of frustration that Warner Bros. was already moving ahead with Birds of Prey (2020), a new Harley Quinn spin-off film with a similar story to the one he wrote for Suicide Squad 2 . During the development process,
24871-399: The film's $ 185 million budget was an "absurd amount to spend" on an R-rated film and was significantly more than what was spent on previous R-rated superhero films. He said the film required a "best-case-scenario box office" just to break even with that budget, and that did not turn out to be the case. HBO Max reported that The Suicide Squad had the second-biggest opening weekend of all
25080-424: The film's soundtrack album. Footage from the film is included in the music video for "Rain", which was released the next month. The Suicide Squad premiered theatrically in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2021. It was scheduled to debut in the United States on August 6, but was moved up a day to August 5, for early preview screenings. The film was also made available on the streaming service HBO Max on August 5, for
25289-479: The film, and several making-of featurettes. The film was the top-seller for home media sales in the United States for two weeks after its release, on both the NPD Videoscan First Alert chart (which tracks combined Blu-ray and DVD sales) and the dedicated Blu-ray sales chart. According to The Numbers , it sold a combined 146,752 Blu-ray and DVD units in its first week for a total of $ 3.8 million. It
25498-418: The film, reportedly as a replacement for Smith as Deadshot. Elba was Gunn's only choice for the role, and he wrote the script with Elba in mind—something Gunn rarely does for actors he has not met. Elba agreed to join the film during that conversation, as he wanted to work with Gunn and felt "so touched and honored that someone of [Gunn's] talent was really keen to work with" him. Elba was in official negotiations
25707-695: The film, several convicts join a task force known as the "Suicide Squad" in exchange for lighter sentences. They are sent to the South American island nation of Corto Maltese to destroy all traces of the giant alien starfish Starro the Conqueror before it falls into the local government's control. David Ayer was set to return as director for a Suicide Squad sequel by March 2016, but in December he chose to work on other projects. Warner Bros. considered several replacements before hiring Gavin O'Connor in September 2017. He left due to creative differences, and Gunn
25916-423: The film, with visual effects vendors including Framestore , Weta Digital , Trixter , Scanline VFX , and Cantina Creative . Gunn said the visual effects for King Shark, primarily handled by Framestore and Weta Digital, were particularly difficult to get right. In May 2020, John Murphy was set as the composer for the film. Tyler Bates , who scored all of Gunn's previous films, was originally attached to compose
26125-575: The films that premiered simultaneously on the streaming service and in theaters. The service did not provide further details or data, but analytics company Samba TV , which gathers viewership data from certain Smart TVs and content providers, reported that 2.8 million U.S. households watched the film over its first four days of release on HBO Max, which placed it only behind Mortal Kombat (3.8 million) for simultaneous theater and streaming releases. Also according to Samba TV, The Suicide Squad had
26334-410: The final battle was filmed, and an even bigger beach set that had real waves and a palm tree forest which Gunn called "the greatest set [he had] ever been on". The jungle featured a bamboo cage that was 8 feet (2.4 m) deep. Gunn said building a whole beach was expensive, but it was more cost-effective than using a real beach due to changing tides and the limited amount of time available for filming in
26543-405: The first Ratcatcher, Alice Braga as Sol Soria, Agee, Tinashe Kajese as Flo Crawley, Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, Capaldi as Thinker , Julio Ruiz as Milton, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Davis as Waller, Elba as Bloodsport , Robbie as Quinn, and Rooker as Savant . Agee was the on-set reference for King Shark, and also portrays John Economos. Production designer Beth Mickle said Gunn wanted
26752-456: The first team serves as a diversion, allowing the second team to enter the country undetected. The team is led by assassin Bloodsport , who Waller blackmailed in exchange for dropping the court trial of his estranged daughter Tyla, and it also consists of Peacemaker , King Shark , Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher 2 and her pet rat Sebastian. Waller orders the squad to find Flag, who escaped from
26961-401: The fort housing Project Starfish, and despite butting heads with Bloodsport and Rick Flag, helps the team get to the fort. After Flag and Ratcatcher 2 discover the U.S. government's involvement with Project Starfish, Peacemaker reveals his secret orders to ensure those details stay confidential to prevent an international incident. He reluctantly kills Flag after a struggle for refusing to destroy
27170-472: The front lines of the war in an attempt to destroy the gas being concocted by General Ludendorff and Dr. Maru, despite the War Cabinet vehemently disapproving. After Diana kills Ludendorff, whom she mistakenly believes is Ares, Morgan reveals himself and attempts to sway her to help him in destroying humanity, also revealing her true parentage as her paternal half-brother and her nature as the "Godkiller" (as only
27379-543: The globe to form the Justice League and embarking on a path to redemption after years of moral ambiguity. The DCEU iteration of Batman is notably older and more battle-weary than previous cinematic portrayals . Affleck's Batman is described as the "angriest we'd ever seen" by Screen Rant , and was inspired by Frank Miller 's The Dark Knight Returns comic storyline. Diana of Themyscira (portrayed by Gal Gadot ), commonly known by her civilian name Diana Prince ,
27588-405: The groundwork for the Marvel Cinematic Universe . A few months later, The Dark Knight released to widespread critical acclaim and became the first superhero movie to make over $ 1 billion at the worldwide box office. 2009 saw the release of Watchmen and X-Men Origins: Wolverine . The 2010s saw a continuation and expansion of the box-office success of superhero films from the 2000s, taking
27797-709: The importance of using his powers for good, battling Sivana and the Seven Deadly Sins with little success at first. After he learns why his mother abandoned him, Billy accepts his foster family as his true family, sharing his superpowers with his siblings and creating the Shazam Family , which allows them all to defeat Sivana and imprison the Seven Deadly Sins and fully staff Shazam's temple. Dr. Harleen Quinzel (portrayed by Margot Robbie ) first appears in Suicide Squad as an up-and-coming psychiatrist who works with
28006-649: The last of his life force to hide the Amazons on Themyscira and create the "Godkiller". After hiding for millennia and continuing to corrupt mankind upon regaining his strength, Ares resurfaces using the guise of British politician Sir Patrick Morgan and gives off a welcoming, pacifistic demeanor as part of the British Imperial War Cabinet while secretly manipulating the Central Powers , leading to World War I . As Sir Morgan, Ares provides some secret aid to Diana and Steve Trevor's team as they venture to
28215-447: The library of existing DC Comics characters and deciding which group would work well together. He wanted to create a blend of characters by having each feel like they were part of a different film genre. The first new character that Gunn added to the roster was King Shark , who was intended to appear in the first film before being replaced by Killer Croc . Gunn sought to feature an animal on the team, and chose King Shark because he enjoyed
28424-399: The members of what would become the Justice League , but also features antiheroes such as Floyd Lawton / Deadshot , Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn , Christopher Smith / Peacemaker , and Teth-Adam / Black Adam . Clark Kent (portrayed by Henry Cavill ), born Kal-El , is a Kryptonian refugee sent to Earth by his parents Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van prior to the planet's destruction and
28633-639: The military but is held at a rebel base. The team massacres the rebel soldiers, only to learn that rebellion leader Sol Soria had saved Flag. Despite the group's actions, Soria agrees to help them infiltrate the capital, where they capture Project Starfish's lead scientist, the Thinker . Harley is captured by the Corto Maltesean government and taken to the new dictator, Silvio Luna, who wishes to marry her. After learning of Luna's plans to use Project Starfish on political dissidents, Harley kills him and escapes. She joins
28842-407: The military codename Superman as he uses his powers to protect the Earth's citizens. Superman eventually comes to odds with Batman before finding commonality and inspires Batman and other vigilantes and metahumans to band together and protect the world from greater threats. Cavill is the first non-American actor to portray Superman in film . In addition, Zack Snyder has aimed to give Superman
29051-475: The moniker Aquaman . The son of a human lighthouse keeper and Atlanna, queen of Atlantis , Curry is portrayed as a reluctant hero . Dealing with his dual identity, he chooses to hide among humanity despite helping in small doses. After being sought out by Batman to join the Justice League and stop Steppenwolf , Arthur is later called by his old mentor Nuidis Vulko and Mera to claim his rightful spot as King of Atlantis, regaining confidence in himself. Aquaman
29260-651: The more modern moniker Black Adam , but also coming to odds with Amanda Waller, A.R.G.U.S., and the Justice Society , who are aware of his past rampage. The character first appeared in Shazam! as a holographic image, with Johnson's facial likeness used, before making his on-screen debut in Black Adam . Johnson had stated his intentions for Black Adam to fight Shazam, Superman, and other Justice League members in future DCEU films. Jaime Reyes (portrayed by Xolo Maridueña )
29469-712: The murder of his protégé Dick Grayson . Bruce antagonizes Superman after personally witnessing the Battle of Metropolis , in which the ruckus caused by the Kryptonians destroys a considerable part of the city, including the destruction of Wayne Tower and the deaths of a large portion of Wayne's workforce in Metropolis. He is determined to kill the Man of Steel until finding commonality with him and later becomes inspired by Superman's selflessness and sacrifice, later recruiting other metahumans around
29678-440: The new trailer had a darker, more ominous tone than the red band version, without the jokes and King Shark scenes and with added character beats. Another trailer was released on June 22 by the main cast of the film in a marketing stunt where they pretended that they were leaking the trailer early. Gunn and Warner Bros. also joked about the trailer's "early release". The trailer features the song "Rain" by grandson and Jessie Reyez from
29887-567: The next Suicide Squad film. His deal with Warner Bros. closed following the completion of his exit settlement with the Walt Disney Company , after he was dismissed by Disney and Marvel Studios as director of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) in July 2018 when conservative commentators, such as Mike Cernovich , circulated controversial Twitter posts he made involving rape , pedophilia , AIDS ,
30096-458: The next week. Joel Kinnaman 's Rick Flag was expected to return from the first film at that point, and Jai Courtney revealed later that month that he was returning as Captain Boomerang from the first film. Scott Eastwood , who played GQ Edwards in the first film, was approached to reprise his role by Warner Bros. offering him a three-picture deal for more Suicide Squad movies, but the studio didn't wish to pay him for those movies nor send him
30305-417: The option to return to the role in the future. Elba later stated that Gunn never intended to cast him as Deadshot, while Gunn said he changed his mind about who Elba would portray "a lot". Gunn ultimately chose to cast Elba as Bloodsport because he liked the character in the comics. Though the film has an ensemble cast , Gunn felt Bloodsport was the main protagonist due to being the most prominent and because of
30514-416: The original DC Universe in the comics, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters, and crossed over with separate timelines from other DC-licensed film series in The Flash to create a " multiverse " before being largely rebooted as the new DC Universe franchise under new management from DC Studios. The DCEU centers mostly on superhero characters, including
30723-414: The original Ratcatcher . In addition to Weasel, Sean Gunn also portrays Calendar Man , one of several DC villains that appear as Belle Reve inmates. Others include Natalia Safran as Kaleidoscope and Jared Leland Gore as Double Down . John Ostrander , creator of the 1980s Suicide Squad team that influenced the film, makes a cameo appearance as Dr. Fitzgibbon, while Stephen Blackehart has a small role as
30932-419: The others, who use the Thinker to break into Jötunheim and begin rigging it with explosives. Flag and Ratcatcher 2 enter the Project Starfish laboratory with the Thinker and find Starro the Conqueror , a giant starfish–like alien that creates smaller versions of itself to kill people and control their bodies. The Thinker explains that Starro was brought to Earth by the U.S. government, which has secretly funded
31141-502: The pilot Briscoe, and both Lloyd Kaufman and Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) collaborator Pom Klementieff appear as dancers in a nightclub in uncredited appearances. Ratcatcher 2's pet rat Sebastian was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker and portrayed on-set by rats named Jaws and Crisp Ratt. Before the first Suicide Squad film was released in August 2016, director David Ayer and star Will Smith were expected to return for
31350-471: The potential backlash from doing this to prioritize the natural evolution of the story. He did not want it to be like other films which might kill off some characters early on but then not kill any of the main characters at the end, so he knew that one of the Suicide Squad members would die during the final battle. He originally intended for this to be Ratcatcher, but ultimately felt that this would be too heartless. He chose Polka-Dot Man instead because he thought
31559-408: The previous week and behind new release Free Guy in many markets. The film added $ 8.7 million in its fourth international weekend, before passing $ 100 million internationally the next week with an additional $ 4.6 million. The United Kingdom, Russia, France, Germany, and Mexico were the leading markets for the film outside of the U.S. and Canada. The film's box office underperformance
31768-523: The previous week. Even when taking into account the pandemic limiting theaters in territories such as Italy, Australia, Mexico, and Southeast Asia, the weekend's total grosses were below expectations. The film opened at number one in Japan the following week with $ 1.9 million, retained first position in Brazil, and moved to first in Australia as well. Overall, the weekend total was $ 17 million, down 50% from
31977-458: The project. Jaume Collet-Serra became the new frontrunner to direct in early July, by which time both Smith and Robbie were set to reprise their roles. Zak Penn had pitched a new story treatment for the film to Warner Bros., and wrote a draft of the script as a favor to the studio. Later in July, Collet-Serra was hired to direct Disney 's Jungle Cruise (2021) and withdrew from directing Suicide Squad 2 after deciding he would rather originate
32186-417: The property and try make "an all-out entertaining film from start to finish that didn't play by the rules". This included " post-modern " aesthetic decisions such as creating sequences that showed the perspectives of Harley Quinn and Polka-Dot Man, adding an extended subplot where Harley Quinn is on her own away from the action, and adding title cards that segue between sequences. These elements were written into
32395-563: The record for highest-grossing film of all time before being surpassed by Avatar . Superhero stories gained popularity through comic books and were later adapted into film serials . Early examples include Mandrake the Magician (1939), The Shadow (1940), Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941), Batman (1943), The Phantom (1943), Captain America (1944), and Superman (1948). Between 1941 and 1943, Fleischer Studios produced
32604-439: The record for red band trailers that was established earlier in the year by the trailer for Mortal Kombat (2021). A green band trailer was released online on April Fool's Day , after debuting in front of theatrical screenings of Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). It features new footage because Gunn did not want to use an edited version of the red band trailer as is usually done. Jennifer Ouellette at Ars Technica noted that
32813-451: The relationship between The Suicide Squad and the first Suicide Squad film Gunn wrote a treatment that was a few pages long, and then quickly produced several drafts of the script that Warner Bros. was "extremely high" on. He said the film was "its own thing", rather than a sequel or reboot ; it does not explicitly address the events of the first film or Birds of Prey , but it also does not contradict them. Warner Bros. asked Gunn to make
33022-563: The release of a film version of Spawn (1997), Image Comics ' leading character. After Marvel bought Malibu Comics (the company that owned The Men in Black comic series), Marvel and Columbia Pictures released the Men in Black film in 1997. This film was the first Marvel property to win an Academy Award and, at the time, was the highest-grossing comic book adaptation. While commercially successful, Joel Schumacher 's Batman & Robin (1997)
33231-465: The release of the original Ultraman , the franchise started focusing on superheroes. The series was met with a 36.8% average audience rate, a success. In 1967, Ultraman started expanding to films. Early films, such as Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature , were compilations or theatrical releases of TV shows' episodes. The first original Ultraman film was The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army ,
33440-435: The release schedule at that time. The initial assembly cut for the film was around two hours and forty minutes long, and around twenty minutes of that was soon cut down during editing. Gunn felt the film was still too long, and removed some elements such as part of Harley Quinn's separate storyline that he felt was "pushing audiences away a little bit too much", as well as a sequence with Ratcatcher, King Shark, Polka-Dot Man, and
33649-527: The role in a multi-film deal, but did not appear in the sequel film The Suicide Squad due to scheduling conflicts, with Idris Elba's Bloodsport being given a prominent role in that film in Smith's absence, though the window remains open for Deadshot to return in the future. Robert DuBois (portrayed by Idris Elba ), codenamed Bloodsport , is a mercenary with a biometric set of weaponry and armor. After being convicted of shooting and hospitalizing Superman with
33858-623: The same for Samba TV's 30-day figures, which reported 5.1 million households having viewed The Suicide Squad in that time. According to Whip Media , who track viewership data for the 19 million worldwide users of their TV Time app, The Suicide Squad was the seventh-most-streamed-film of 2021 and the most-streamed-project of the year for HBO Max. On Rotten Tomatoes , The Suicide Squad holds an approval rating of 90% based on 386 reviews, with an average score of 7.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Enlivened by writer-director James Gunn's singularly skewed vision, The Suicide Squad marks
34067-467: The score for The Suicide Squad but eventually left the project. During pre-production, Bates wrote music for Gunn to use on set as he had previously done for Gunn on the Guardians of the Galaxy films. The single "Rain" by grandson and Jessie Reyez from the film's soundtrack album was released on June 22, 2021, with the artists also expected to contribute songs individually to the album. A single from Murphy's score, "So This Is The Famous Suicide Squad",
34276-405: The script, including what Gunn referred to as "Harley-vision" where gory murders are depicted through Harley's "starry-eyed way of looking at life" by mixing "hearts and beautiful little things" with the blood that is coming out of the people Harley is killing. The "Harley-vision" visuals were inspired by a video game that Gunn helped develop called Lollipop Chainsaw (2012). The main villains of
34485-439: The sequel titled Ultraman Zearth 2: Superhuman Big Battle - Light and Shadow premiered. In 1998, Marvel released Blade , a darker superhero film blended with traditional action elements, featuring a title character with the powers of a vampire and an arsenal of weaponry. The success of Blade is considered the beginning of Marvel's film success, and a catalyst for further comic book film adaptations. The popularity of
34694-415: The set during filming. Gunn took several precautions to try to avoid details about the film leaking, such as referring to Elba's character in the script and on set as " Vigilante " to prevent his actual role from being revealed, and also not giving some of the actors script pages from after their characters' deaths. Gunn extensively storyboards his films, but the opening shot of The Suicide Squad —in which
34903-533: The silver screen until her appearance in Batman v Superman in 2016. Gadot was originally offered the role of Faora in Man of Steel , but turned it down due to pregnancy at the time. This paved the way for her casting as Wonder Woman, with Zack Snyder saying she had the "magical quality" that made her perfect for the role. Arthur Curry (portrayed by Jason Momoa ) is a brooding metahuman with aquatic superpowers, later gaining
35112-406: The squad. Also appearing in the film are Juan Diego Botto as President General Silvio Luna, the dictator of Corto Maltese who proposes marriage to Harley Quinn; Joaquín Cosío as Major General Mateo Suárez of Corto Maltese; Storm Reid as Bloodsport's daughter Tyla; Julio Ruiz as Milton, an associate of Task Force X; Lynne Ashe as Polka-Dot Man's Mom; and Taika Waititi as Ratcatcher 2's father,
35321-472: The story of the TV series were made. Another early Japanese superhero film was Ōgon Bat (1966), starring Sonny Chiba and based on the 1931 Kamishibai superhero Ōgon Bat . The kaiju monster Godzilla , originally a villain, began to transition into a superhero role in subsequent films. He has been described as "the original radioactive superhero," due to his nuclear origin story predating Spider-Man's 1962 debut, although Godzilla did not become
35530-474: The streets of Panama. Filming also took place in Porto , Portugal , and wrapped on February 28, 2020. Fred Raskin and Christian Wagner served as editors on the film. Raskin previously worked alongside Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 . By April 2020, Gunn was editing the film at his home due to the COVID-19 pandemic , which he said had not affected post-production or
35739-472: The studio and replacement director Joss Whedon , despite the character being described as the "heart of the movie" in Zack Snyder's original version, which has since been released as Zack Snyder's Justice League . Fisher's performance in the latter version of the film has received critical acclaim. Prior to landing the role, Fisher was a little-known theater actor. Billy Batson (portrayed by Asher Angel )
35948-421: The studio, and an R-rating needed to be planned from the start of a production. He said that it would be worth "lobbying" to make a sequel R-rated, as he felt the first film had the "edge" and "attitude" of an R-rated film already. Suicide Squad was released to a polarized response and was reported to have a difficult production, but the film grossed enough for Warner Bros. Pictures to fast-track development of
36157-705: The sub-genre's success and ubiquity to new heights. Matthew Vaughn 's adaptation of Kick-Ass was released in 2010, followed by Iron Man 2 a month later. 2011 releases included The Green Hornet , Green Lantern , and X-Men: First Class . After referencing the " Avengers Initiative " in the Iron Man films and The Incredible Hulk , Marvel released Thor on May 6, 2011, followed by Captain America: The First Avenger on July 22, 2011. While Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (February 17, 2012) had little audience interest, superhero films dominated
36366-461: The submarine and is later given advanced Atlantean armor and command of a strike force of Atlantean soldiers by King Orm after Arthur and Mera escape Atlantis. Kane rechristens himself Black Manta after modifying the armor and attacks Arthur and Mera with his strike force in Sicily , though the two fend off the attack. After heated one-on-one combat, Arthur damages Manta's armor and sends him careening off
36575-548: The subway, he is contacted by the dying wizard Shazam , who bestows his powers to Billy after deeming him worthy as his champion. Gaining the ability to transform into an adult superhero (portrayed by Zachary Levi ) upon calling the name "Shazam" , Billy creates a YouTube channel with Freddy to display his superpowers and continues to act mischievously until friction occurs with his foster siblings and Doctor Sivana emerges, being envious of Billy's powers and wanting them himself after being denied by Shazam earlier. Billy realizes
36784-548: The superhero film, setting the template for modern superhero blockbusters and inspiring the superhero renaissance in the early 21st century. John Kenneth Muir , in The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television , describes The Matrix as a revolutionary re-imagination of movie visuals, paving the way for the visuals of later superhero films. He credits it with helping to "make comic-book superheroes hip", and notes that its bullet-time effect effectively demonstrated
36993-457: The surviving squad members and dropping Tyla's charges in exchange for keeping the contents of the drive confidential. Waller reluctantly agrees, and the remaining squad members are airlifted out of Corto Maltese. In a mid-credits scene , it is revealed that Weasel , one of the members of the first team, has survived his supposed drowning and runs off into the jungle. In a post-credits scene , for disobeying her, Waller assigns her subordinates to
37202-518: The team as "misguided patriotism", and that the "heroes in this movie are those who are willing to defy the orders given to them by the government". Lucy Nichols of Counter Fire writes that the film "bizarrely, openly critiques American imperialism in Latin America ", and like Baron, comments that The Suicide Squad is unusual among superhero films with its direct criticism of the U.S. government and military. Superhero film A superhero film
37411-416: The team in fighting Starro. Waller attempts to execute them for this, but her subordinates knock her out. After Starro kills Polka-Dot Man, Harley pierces a hole in its eye, allowing Ratcatcher 2 to summon the city's rats to chew Starro to death from the inside. With the military diverted, Soria takes control of the government, promising democratic elections . Bloodsport blackmails Waller into releasing him and
37620-404: The team, threatening to release the government secrets. After Waller accepted the deal, in honor of their late common friend Flag, Harley proposes to him to become friends with each other. Going off the theme of the film's main characters representing different eras in film, director James Gunn described Bloodsport as an unsentimental portrayal of a 1960s action hero like Steve McQueen , without
37829-477: The torture and experimentation of Corto Maltese civilians in Project Starfish to the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal and allegations of prisoner torture at Guantanamo Bay detention camp . He opines that the evil actions of Silvio Luna's regime and Starro, while heinous, are "just symptomatic of the ultimate villain of The Suicide Squad : the United States government," describing Peacemaker's betrayal of
38038-451: The trailer perfectly captured the Suicide Squad's inherent "outlandish fun" from the comics. Anthony D'Alessandro at Deadline Hollywood felt the trailer had all the trademarks of Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy films, noting the use of a "retro hit single" in Steely Dan 's " Dirty Work ", with The Verge 's Jay Peters also getting "some serious Guardians of the Galaxy vibes" from
38247-421: The trailer. D'Alessandro and Peters both compared it to the recently released DC film Zack Snyder's Justice League and noted how the trailer was much more colorful and humorous than that film. McLevy, Jennifer Bisset and Sean Keane of CNET , and CinemaBlend 's Sean O'Connell all highlighted King Shark and his R-rated scenes. The trailer was viewed 150 million times within a week of its release, breaking
38456-490: The two begin to terrorize Gotham City as its most notorious criminals. After Harley herself is imprisoned and pressganged into the Suicide Squad, Joker aims to free her from her predicament, not liking that something of his was taken from him. Later, however, he breaks up with her prior to the events of Birds of Prey , because she wanted credit for her ideas for their successful crimes, and can be seen in Batman's premonitions of
38665-535: The underperforming Birds of Prey than the successful first Suicide Squad . The film dropped 72% in its second weekend, finishing fifth with just $ 7.5 million. This drop was similar to those seen in the second weekends of other films released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, such as Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021). It dropped 55% in its third weekend, grossing $ 3.4 million, before crossing $ 50 million in its fourth weekend with an additional $ 2 million. The week prior to its domestic release,
38874-481: The villain, Waller, had lost, but he included the moment in a recap of the film that begins the spin-off series Peacemaker to explain why Crawley is not in that series. In December, Gunn said editing for the film's final cut had been completed and work on the remaining visual effects, sound, and score was continuing. The final runtime is two hours and twelve minutes. Kelvin McIlwain was the visual effects supervisor for
39083-434: The week behind Netflix 's Vivo (493 million minutes) and Disney+ 's Jungle Cruise (407 million minutes). Samba TV later reported that 3.5 million American households had watched the film within its first week of release. This grew to 4.7 million for the first 17 days, which placed it third after Mortal Kombat (5.5 million) and Godzilla vs. Kong (5.1 million). These rankings remained
39292-484: The world after living a sheltered life on Themyscira. Diana is inspired by Steve's bravery and learns to find the goodness in mankind, despite evil existing in the world. She is brought back to the forefront after an extraterrestrial threat emerges, with Bruce Wayne recruiting her and other metahumans to fight against the forces of Apokolips . Despite being part of DC Comics ' main "trinity" of superhero characters alongside Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman did not debut on
39501-670: Was a critical and commercial success. The same year, Toei Company 's Spider-Man reimagining and the first Super Sentai crossover film, JAKQ Dengekitai vs. Gorenger , were released. Other successful entries emerged throughout the 1980s, including Eight Riders vs. Galaxy King (1980), Kamen Rider Super-1: The Movie (1981), Richard Lester 's Superman II (1981), Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge (1981), and Paul Verhoeven 's RoboCop (1987). These were followed by Kamen Rider Black: Hurry to Onigashima and Kamen Rider Black: Terrifying! The Phantom House of Devil Pass , both released in 1988. Other superhero films released during
39710-433: Was at the height of his directing abilities with the film. It came in under budget and had no days of additional photography. In July, the film's release date was moved up by a day to August 5. A behind-the-scenes featurette was released on August 22, 2020, during the virtual DC FanDome event. A panel for the film was held during Comic Con Experience 's digital event CCXP Worlds on December 6, with James Gunn and members of
39919-435: Was chosen to direct the film and co-write it with his writing partner Anthony Tambakis, based on his own vision. The character Black Adam was reportedly the main villain of O'Connor's script, with Dwayne Johnson already attached to that role for DC Films . Michael De Luca joined the film as a producer in January 2018, working with the first film's producer Charles Roven . David Bar Katz and Todd Stashwick were co-writing
40128-445: Was courting Mel Gibson by mid-February 2017. Ruben Fleischer , Daniel Espinosa , Jonathan Levine , and David S. Goyer were also considered. Adam Cozad entered negotiations to write the film a month later, at which point there was still no director attached to the project. It was described as being a priority for Warner Bros. Script delays led to the planned filming start being pushed to mid-2018, at which point Gibson moved on from
40337-432: Was critically panned for its campiness and deviation from the darker style of the series' first two films directed by Tim Burton. Some have cited it as a factor in the temporary decline of the superhero film sub-genre. Starting with the 1990s, original Ultraman films became more common. In 1996, Tsuburaya released Ultraman Zearth , which parodied the original TV series and later installments. The following year,
40546-537: Was directly given those powers by the council, transfers them to him to save his life, at the cost of his own. Adam becomes consumed with rage at his son's death, using his powers to avenge Hurut and destroy the king and his men by any means possible, but due to his uncontrollable anger and the resulting mass destruction, Adam is imprisoned for millennia by the council until he is set free in the present day. Seeing Kahndaq under oppression again by foreign interests, he resolves to free his nation by any means necessary, adapting
40755-522: Was generally attributed to its release during the COVID-19 pandemic, the fact that it was also available for streaming on HBO Max at the same time as its theatrical release, piracy allowed by the streaming release, the R-rating which limited younger audiences, the poor reception to the first Suicide Squad , and confusion from general audiences over its relationship to the first film caused by their similar titles. Anthony D'Alessandro of Deadline Hollywood felt
40964-414: Was heavily redesigned in the DCEU, sporting tattoos and a gruff demeanor as opposed to his comics counterpart who is often ridiculed due to his campy depiction in previous adaptations of the source material. Critics have described this iteration of the character as an extension of the "larger than life actor who portrays him, Jason Momoa". Barry Allen (portrayed by Ezra Miller ) is a college student and
41173-705: Was hired in October 2018 to write and direct the film after being temporarily fired by Disney and Marvel Studios as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). He drew inspiration from war films and John Ostrander 's 1980s Suicide Squad comics and explored new characters in a story separate from the first film's narrative, though some cast members do return from Suicide Squad . Filming took place from September 2019 to February 2020, primarily in Atlanta, Georgia , as well as in Colón, Panama , and Porto, Portugal . The film had
41382-499: Was hired, Disney decided to reinstate Gunn as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 . He discussed his new DCEU commitment with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige , who encouraged him to "make a great movie" and agreed to delay production on Guardians until Gunn had completed work on the Suicide Squad sequel. In January 2019, the film was officially titled The Suicide Squad and was scheduled for release on August 6, 2021. The title
41591-449: Was in talks to join the cast in May, while Storm Reid was cast as the daughter of Elba's character in July. Flula Borg , Nathan Fillion , and Steve Agee joined the film in August, with Agee initially reported to be portraying King Shark. Also in August, Taika Waititi entered negotiations for a role. Peter Capaldi joined the cast in early September, when Pete Davidson was in talks to make
41800-567: Was left untouched and unbothered by studio interference, puts The Suicide Squad alongside the very best of modern comic-book filmmaking. His film, which now comes with an all-important 'The' at the beginning of its title, functions both as a sequel and a fresh start." Brian Truitt of USA Today gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4 and said " The Suicide Squad shifts superhero movies into a hilarious, gory and exceedingly bonkers new direction but writer/director James Gunn still makes time to show one goofy supervillain making sure another's buckled up for
42009-539: Was made available on July 8. On August 6, two full albums for the film were released by WaterTower Music : one featuring Murphy's score, and a soundtrack album featuring songs from the film, including "Rain". In January 2021, at the beginning of filming for Peacemaker in Vancouver, Canada , Gunn filmed a post-credits scene for The Suicide Squad that sets-up the series. He had not planned an alternative post-credits scene before deciding to make Peacemaker . A month later,
42218-462: Was not comfortable shooting with cars and had already known Norris for a long time. Filming in Atlanta was expected to last three months before moving to Panama for a month, with Colón, Panama standing in for the streets of Corto Maltese. Gunn said the city was "beautiful but falling-apart... we were able to use all the colors but to keep the grime" as well. The cast and crew rescued several animals from
42427-523: Was not recognized for his accomplishments due to his African-American heritage and passes his illicit trade to his son and grandson. Mateen reprised his role as Black Manta in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom . Kalypso (portrayed by Lucy Liu ), is the second daughter of Atlas and the sister of Hespera and Anthea. Millennia after Atlas' death, Kalypso and her sisters sought to recover their father's stamina from
42636-416: Was secretly charged by Waller to make sure that no evidence on the project is leaving the building, as he kills Flag and attempts to kill her for attempting to leak a U.S. government secret related to the project, revealing that the squad was not only send to destroy it, but also to bury its U.S. connections. He takes leadership of the remaining squad members after Flag's death and after Starro escapes following
42845-407: Was suggested by Gunn as a joke, but executives at Warner Bros. liked it. At that time, Gunn was in negotiations to direct the film which was described as a relaunch rather than a direct sequel that would take the franchise in a new direction and feature a largely new cast. Roven and Peter Safran were set as producers, with Zack Snyder and Deborah Snyder as executive producers. Safran, who produced
43054-424: Was the biggest first day for an R-rated film during the pandemic. That contributed to $ 26.2 million (47.0% of total gross) across the film's opening weekend, which was also the biggest for an R-rated film during the pandemic. Despite the pandemic-era records, the film fell short of Warner Bros. and industry projections of a $ 30 million opening, projections that themselves were considered low and were closer to
43263-535: Was the fourth highest-selling title for the month of October on the VideoScan First Alert chart. The Suicide Squad grossed $ 55.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $ 112.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $ 168.7 million, against a production budget of $ 185 million. In the United States and Canada, the film made $ 12.2 million on its first day, including $ 4.1 million from Thursday night previews, which
43472-423: Was the only major DC Comics villain that was unlikely to appear in another live-action film or who would not be adapted faithfully by another filmmaker if it was. He also wanted to avoid potential questions regarding who should be portraying Superman in the DCEU and what that would mean for the film's connections to the wider shared universe. DC allowed Gunn to kill any character, including Harley Quinn, and he ignored
43681-457: Was told by Gunn not to read any comics on the character and to act like a "bro-y, douchey Captain America ." Teth-Adam (portrayed by Dwayne Johnson ) is a former slave originally from ancient Kahndaq 5,000 years in the past. After living under a tyrannical king who oppressed all the inhabitants of the country, Adam becomes endowed with the powers of the Council of Wizards as his son Hurut, who
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