James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad – origins, premise and where it sits in the DCEU

As writer/directors go, James Gunn was a perfect choice to helm The Suicide Squad, a sequel-ish big-screen reboot for DCEU’s unpredictable supervillain crew. It was Gunn, after all, who introduced cinemagoers and casual comic-book fans to the (then) relatively unknown Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), turning the second-string super-team into beloved MCU mainstays with humour, on-point storytelling and spectacular set-pieces.

Following the good-but-not-great Suicide Squad (2016), Gunn’s R-Rated The Suicide Squad looks set to supercharge the franchise by letting it be exactly what it ought to be – anarchic, foul-mouthed, very funny and cartoonishly gory. And, if letting the inmates run the asylum (as it were) wasn’t encouraging enough, Gunn’s decision to let this squad of subpar bad guys loose in a story inspired by gritty war movies of the 60s and 70s (think The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape and The Wild Geese) is a stroke of genius.

Set some time after the events of its 2016 namesake, The Suicide Squad finds Task Force X leader, Amanda Waller once again ‘persuading’ a motley crew of B-grade supervillains imprisoned in Belle Reve penitentiary to work for the US government in exchange for time off their sentences.

The mission this time?

To infiltrate the South American island of Corto Maltese to destroy Jotunheim, a Nazi-era prison, freeing its political prisoners and getting to the bottom of some very suspicious experiments that are being conducted there.

The Suicide Squad cast and characters. Who’s who in The Suicide Squad?

Ready for a rapid roll call of the new, improved and expanded Suicide Squad? Okay, tighten your bunches and grab your baseball bat, let’s go. 

If you want to know who came up with the idea of ‘encouraging’ a bunch of imprisoned supervillains to go on suicidally dangerous missions for the US government in exchange for time off their sentences, that’ll be Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). She’s the no-nonsense head of A.R.G.U.S. (Advanced Research Group Uniting Superhumans). Under her, is Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman). Flag is Waller’s man in the field and the one who has to corral the Suicide Squaddies into some kind of functioning special-ops force. Both Davis and Kinnaman played versions of their characters in 2016’s original Suicide Squad, as did Margot Robbie, who’s back as Bird of Prey and former Arkham Asylum psychiatrist, Dr. Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn.

Up next is Robert DuBois aka Bloodsport. Played by Idris Elba, Bloodsport is a mercenary equipped with an impressive high-tech arsenal. He’s also not one of life’s smilers.  Next up we have Peacemaker (John Cena), a vigilante who thinks he’s a good guy but is actually just a bit of a knob, and King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), who’s, well, a fairly dim fish-human hybrid with a dad bod and a love of chomping people in two.

If you think you recognise Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) from Suicide Squad (2016), you’d be right. The Aussie bank robber with the lethal boomerangs is back. No less self-centred, but we can’t have everything. Who’s next? That’ll be a hyper-intelligent criminal mastermind, Thinker, played with deadpan brilliance by Peter Capaldi. Michael ‘Yondu’ Rooker plays Savant, a pampered heir turned computer hacker, while SNL’s Pete Davidson joins the Suicide Squad as the unfortunately named Dick Hertz. Under the name Blackguard, Hertz is infamous for being one of the most inept villains in DC comics history. Best of luck out there, ‘Dick’.

Don’t be fooled by his CBeebies-friendly appearance – the colourful dots covering Polka Dot Man’s costume contain a wide variety of useful gadgets and weapons, making Abner Krill (David Dastmalchian) one of the most useful members of the squad. Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) is handy in a tight spot, too. She can summon an army of rats to swarm enemies. Finally, last and quite possibly least is Weasel (Sean Gunn) who is literally a man-sized weasel (with a terrible record when it comes to not murdering people).

The Suicide Squad trailer. Why you really need to experience The Suicide Squad (2021) in the cinema.

The Suicide Squad is pulling no punches when it comes to comically gruesome combat, hilariously filthy language and spectacularly anarchic action. No wonder it’s got an R-rating in the US and will likely get a 15 rating over here.

To put it another way, James Gunn’s latest ensemble superhero movie is going to be the over-the-top, nobody’s-safe, surprising and fantastically entertaining Suicide Squad story these reprobates deserve.