Suicide Squad (2016 film)
Suicide Squad is a 2016 American superhero film based on the DC Comics supervillain/anti-hero team of the same name. Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, DC Films, and Atlas Entertainment, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures,[4] it is the third installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film was written and directed by David Ayer and stars an ensemble cast led by Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, and Cara Delevingne. In the film, a secret government agency led by Amanda Waller recruits imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops missions and save the world from a powerful threat in exchange for reduced sentences.
Suicide Squad
David Ayer[a]
Characters
from DC
Warner Bros. Pictures
- August 1, 2016 (Beacon Theatre)
- August 5, 2016 (United States)
123 minutes[3]
United States[4]
English
$175 million[5]
By February 2009, a Suicide Squad film was in development at Warner Bros. Ayer signed on to write and direct Suicide Squad in September 2014, and by October, the casting process had begun. Principal photography began in Toronto, Ontario on April 13, 2015, with additional filming in Chicago, and ended in August that year.
Suicide Squad premiered in New York City on August 1, 2016, and was released in the United States on August 5. Following a strong debut that set new box office records, it grossed over $746 million worldwide, making it the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2016. The film received negative reviews from critics, with criticism aimed at its plot, dialogue, direction, editing, action scenes, and use of licensed music, though some praise was given towards Robbie's performance as Harley Quinn. The film won an Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 89th Academy Awards; it is also the only DCEU film to have won an Academy Award. It was followed by a spin-off film, Birds of Prey (2020), where Robbie reprises her role, and a standalone sequel, The Suicide Squad (2021), with Robbie, Kinnaman, Davis, and Courtney returning.
Plot[edit]
In the aftermath of Superman's death,[b] intelligence officer Amanda Waller convinces the U.S. government to greenlight Task Force X, a response team of criminals and supervillains. The team will be used to combat metahuman threats, under Waller's control via nanite bombs implanted in each criminal's neck, which can be remotely detonated if they try to rebel or escape. If successful, they will have their sentences shortened.
Dr. June Moone, an American archaeologist, becomes possessed by a witch called Enchantress. Waller can control Enchantress by seizing her magical heart, which wounds her if it is struck. Waller's subordinate Colonel Rick Flag is in love with Moone, and is made a lead member of Task Force X. However, Enchantress betrays Waller, conquering Midway City, transforming humans into monsters, and summoning her brother Incubus to destroy mankind.
Task Force X is formed to stop Enchantress, using six inmates from Belle Reve penitentiary. The roster consists of hitman Deadshot, who wants to reunite with his daughter Zoe; Harley Quinn, a volatile and crazed former psychiatrist-turned-girlfriend of Gotham crime lord Joker; Australian boomerang-wielding thief Captain Boomerang; pyrokinetic ex-gangster El Diablo; mutant cannibal Killer Croc; and rope-climber mercenary Slipknot. The team is led by Flag and joined by his associate Katana, a Japanese swordswoman. Waller and Flag deliberately hide the latter's relationship with Moone from the team.
Upon arrival in Midway City, the team's helicopter is shot down, forcing them to travel on foot. Boomerang convinces Slipknot to take off, claiming that the bombs are a ruse, but Flag kills Slipknot by activating the bombs when he tries to escape; satisfying Boomerang's curiosity of the bombs' legitimacy. Scaling a skyscraper and fighting their way through waves of heavily mutated soldiers under Enchantress' control, the team discover the mission target was Waller herself.
As Waller and the squad await helicopter extraction, they are attacked by Joker, who learned of Harley's predicament. With tech stolen from an A.R.G.U.S. laboratory, Joker disables Harley's bomb, and helps her escape. Waller shoots down Joker's helicopter, though Harley survives and rejoins the squad, believing Joker is dead. Enchantress captures Waller to regain her heart. Deadshot finds Waller's top-secret files and discovers Flag's relationship with Moone. The team abandon Flag, sharing a drink in an abandoned bar, where El Diablo reveals his powers and criminal lifestyle led to the deaths of his family. Flag relieves the squad of their mission, but realizing they have the opportunity to prove themselves, the group set out to save the city.
The squad attack Enchantress, while Killer Croc and Flag's platoon of Navy SEALs plant a bomb beneath the subway to kill Incubus. El Diablo embraces his pyrokinesis, sacrificing himself to maneuver and keep Incubus in the right spot. Enchantress invites the squad to join her, and Harley pretends to be tempted to get close enough to cut out Enchantress's heart. Flag crushes her heart, killing her and releasing Moone. Waller deducts ten years off each squad member's sentence and fulfill their requests (except for Boomerang, who is instead detained). Joker, who is still alive, breaks into Belle Reve and rescues Harley.
In a mid-credits scene, Waller meets with Bruce Wayne, who agrees to protect her from the legal consequences of the events in Midway City in exchange for government files on the growing metahuman community. He reveals his plans to contact the heroes in the file, including Flash and Aquaman, in order to build his own superhero team.[c][d] She advises him to stop working late nights, implying she knows Bruce is Batman. In response, he tells Waller to shut down Task Force X or he and his "friends" will do it for her.
Additionally, Ben Affleck and Ezra Miller reprise their respective roles of Bruce Wayne / Batman and Barry Allen / The Flash from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; with Affleck's appearance being uncredited whereas Miller's appearance being a cameo role.[31][32][33] Alain Chanoine portrays Incubus, the brother of Enchantress, who possesses the body of a businessman in Midway City in order to have a physical form.[34] Jim Parrack and Common appear as the Joker's henchmen, Jonny Frost and Monster T, respectively.[23][35][36] David Harbour portrays government official Dexter Tolliver (based on a DC character called Derek Tolliver),[37] Alex Meraz portrays Navy SEAL Gomez, and Matt Baram portrays Dr. Van Criss, a scientist at Wayne Enterprises' branch Van Criss Laboratories.[27][38][39] Shailyn Pierre-Dixon plays Zoe Lawton, Deadshot's daughter, and Corina Calderon plays Grace Santana, Diablo's wife.[40][41] David Ayer, writer and director of the film, makes a cameo appearance as a Belle Reve officer.[42]
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
The film was announced in 2009 with Dan Lin as producer, Stephen Gilchrist as co-producer and Justin Marks as the screenwriter.[43][44] David Ayer signed on to direct and write the film in September 2014.[45] He later described the film to Empire Online as "Dirty Dozen with supervillains".[46] While Ayer's first script originally included Steppenwolf as a force behind Enchantress, this had to change and Ayer had six weeks to rewrite the screenplay, given the release date was already set.[47] This was later misinterpreted as Ayer having written the entire screenplay in six weeks.[48]
Casting[edit]
In October 2014, Warner Bros. had initially offered Ryan Gosling, Tom Hardy, Margot Robbie, and Will Smith roles in the film.[49][50] In November, TheWrap revealed that Jared Leto was in talks for the role of Joker, for which Gosling was originally sought.[51] The main cast was announced by Warner Brothers in December 2014 with Smith, Hardy, Leto, Robbie, Jai Courtney, and Cara Delevingne along with their respective roles as Deadshot, Rick Flag, Joker, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, and Enchantress.[52] Emma Roberts was considered for Harley Quinn before Robbie was cast.[53] The studio was also considering Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Oprah Winfrey for the role of Amanda Waller.[54] Following the announcement of the cast, comic book writer John Ostrander (creator of the modern incarnation of the Suicide Squad) talked with Comic Book Resources about the casting, saying, "I have no problem with the casting... what I am really impressed by with all of the casting is that they are getting some very good actors to play these parts."[55]
In January 2015, Davis expressed interest in playing Amanda Waller during an interview, saying "I'm fascinated by [Waller]."[22] Meanwhile, Tom Hardy had to drop out as Rick Flag because of scheduling issues with his film The Revenant.[56] Jake Gyllenhaal, who worked with Ayer on End of Watch, was then given an offer to replace Hardy as Flag, but he declined.[57] The studio was then looking at Joel Kinnaman to play the role.[58][59][60] In February, Jay Hernandez joined the cast and Kinnaman was also confirmed to play Flag.[61] At the 87th Academy Awards, it was revealed that Davis had been cast as Amanda Waller.[62] In March 2015, boxer Raymond Olubawale was reported to have an unspecified role in the film,[63] and Scott Eastwood announced that he had been cast.[64] Later that month, it was confirmed that Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Karen Fukuhara had been cast as Killer Croc and Katana, respectively.[25] Adam Beach, Ike Barinholtz, and Jim Parrack were added to the cast in April 2015.[27] In January 2016, Ben Affleck was confirmed to reprise his role as Batman from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.[31]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Suicide Squad was a box office success,[99] grossing $325.1 million in the United States and Canada and $421.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $746.8 million, against a production budget of $175 million ($325 million including advertising and promotion costs).[7][100][101] Suicide Squad was highly anticipated by audiences worldwide, despite negative early reviews and lower-than-expected box office performance of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in March.[5] It recorded a worldwide opening of $267.1 million from 59 countries and IMAX global debut of $18.2 million, both of which set new records for the month of August.[102] That is also the second-best debut worldwide for a DC property after Dawn of Justice ($422.5 million) and the seventh-best for a superhero title.[103] The Hollywood Reporter highlighted that Dawn of Justice had an advantage of receiving a coveted day-and-date release with China, while Suicide Squad did not secure a release date in the country.[104] Forbes pointed out that had the film secured a release in China, it might well have matched or topped the $773 million total of Guardians of the Galaxy and the $782 million gross of Deadpool.[99] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $158.45 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film, making it the 10th-most-profitable release of 2016.[105]