Suicide Squad reviews range from 'cringe-worthy' to 'a hoot'

Suicide Squad: New toy suggests Joker will become Batman

21 July

A toy connected to Suicide Squad appears to have given away a major spoiler for the highly anticipated film.

Toymaker Hot Toys displayed its full line of Suicide Squad-related products at San Diego Comic Con - including a figurine called The Joker (Batman Imposter Version), which sees the clown-faced villain dressed in a variant of the Caped Crusader's famous suit.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The character is unmistakably The Joker and features actor Jared Leto's incarnation of the baddie, complete with gold-capped teeth and white face paint.

"Hot Toys has never created its own variant of a movie character," Gizmodo says. "They stick almost entirely, if not actually entirely, to recreating specific characters/outfits/etc from movies and TV shows."

So how will The Joker end up in a Batsuit in the film?

"It looks a lot like Batman’s real outfit, meaning the Joker would have had to steal it from him somehow," Gizmodo says.

"I doubt that Batman would discard a uniform – rather, I can’t imagine a situation where Batman would have to strip down and leave an intact Bat-suit behind – which implies that the Joker may have picked it up from the Batcave. Which raises a much larger set of questions."

Suicide Squad will hit cinemas on 5 August.

Suicide Squad: New picture reveals 'mystery villain'

19 July

Suicide Squad is not a film short on bad guys �� after all, its entire premise is that villains can sometimes save the day.

But throughout the long marketing campaign, it has never been clear who the true villain of the piece really is. Until now, perhaps.

A new image has been released showing a "mystery villain" showered in electrical sparks. The character has his - or her - arm outstretched and appears to be holding some kind of a weapon. They also appear to have cables running from the back of their head, which could indicate some kind of cybernetic component.

The photo coincides with the release of Suicide Squad's final trailer, which features new footage of Jared Leto as The Joker and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.

The clip also has a healthy dose of Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, the government agent in charge of the eponymous squad. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"97564","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]

Set to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, the clip "teases that Waller may be the film's true villain", says Thrillist. "She plays the puppet master that puts the Suicide Squad's team of villains on the streets to work for the government. 'Getting people to act against their own self-interest,' she says, 'is what I do for a living.'"

So will the true enemies of the picture be a government agent and a cybernetic sidekick? All will be revealed when Suicide Squad opens in the UK on 5 August.

Suicide Squad: Margot Robbie reveals who her character loves and hates

15 July

Suicide Squad's Harley Quinn thinks Captain Boomerang is "an idiot", but feels great affection for fellow villains Killer Croc and Deadshot, says Margot Robbie.

The actress plotted out her character's feelings about her fellow squad members at the start of filming and shared her insights with Screen Rant.

"Whenever little scenes between them happen, I just write in the corner of my [script] page what I think about them," she says.

"At the beginning I decided how she feels about each character. For some reason I think she really likes Killer Croc and looks at him like a teddy bear. She looks at him and says 'I love him.' And I think she thinks that Diablo is the coolest one because he has the coolest super power."

The Joker's on-off girlfriend also finds herself attracted to Will Smith's Deadshot, says the site.

However, here is one character Quinn doesn't think so highly of, the 26-year-old Australian adds.

"My note towards Captain Boomerang when he walks in the script is, 'I think he's an idiot'", Robbie says. "She has moments where she's like, 'he's funny.' And then it goes back to her thinking he's an idiot."

Meanwhile, box-office analysts have high hopes for Suicide Squad, with preliminary estimates suggesting it could be on track to open to an enormous $125m (£93m) in its North American debut.

Some data appears to suggest it could perform even better, possibly taking as much as $135m or more.

"Suicide Squad should have no trouble coming in ahead of Marvel and Disney's Guardians of the Galaxy, which launched to $94.3m domestically in early August 2014 and remains the record holder for top August opening," says Hollywood Reporter.

If the tracking proves accurate, Suicide Squad will come in somewhere around Deadpool's $132m opening weekend and hugely ahead of X-Men: Apocalypse's $65m debut.

DC Comics' blockbuster Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had an opening weekend of $166m earlier this year, but "suffered a sharp drop-off in the following weeks due to its poor critical reception", says Screen Rant. "If Suicide Squad's reviews and audience response live up the current hype, the film has a real shot at becoming the highest-grossing DC Comics-based movie of 2016."

Suicide Squad is released on 5 August in the UK.

Suicide Squad: has the villain been revealed?

12 July

Trailers for Suicide Squad have introduced all of the film's anti-heroes, including Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Will Smith as Deadshot. But one thing is still missing - information about the enemy they will face.

Initially, it seemed Jared Leto's the Joker would be the main villain. However, that may not be the case, say the production team.

Suicide Squad executives have been referring to the squad's enemy as "The Adversary", ComicBook.com says.

"Oh, you will find out who the Adversary is, that is for sure," producer Richard Suckle told the website. "You will find out not only who the Adversary is, but why they exist, who is part and parcel and who is behind them. You will definitely find that out in this movie for sure."

However, according to co-producer Andy Horowitz, there are several enemies in the film.

"There's multiple adversaries that the Squad has to contend with over the course of the movie of which the Joker is one of them," he said.

Suicide Squad will be released on 5 August in the UK and also stars Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, Cara Delevingne, Viola Davis, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Adam Beach, Jay Hernandez and Karen Fukuhara.

Who are the Suicide Squad?

28 June

Fans of Batman comics may already be familiar with the motley crew of villains that comprise the Suicide Squad, but for lay audiences the only villain in the line-up whose name is likely to ring a bell is The Joker.

So who are the baddies set to save the world in the forthcoming DC film?

Harley Quinn

Originally a psychiatrist charged with treating The Joker at the Gotham asylum mental institute, Harleen Frances Quinzel falls for her patient and becomes a criminal herself in an attempt to win his affections. She changes her name and adopts a harlequin outfit. Quinn's powers and abilities include resistance to toxins, gymnastics, unarmed combat and psychotherapy. She will be played by Margot Robbie in the film.

Deadshot

One of the world's greatest marksmen, Deadshot, played by Will Smith, is a supervillain and part-time hired assassin who claims to "never miss" - a red cybernetic eyepiece improves his accuracy. He first appeared in the Batman comics in the 1950s.

Killer Croc

Killer Croc suffers from a rare genetic condition that causes him to grow reptilian features, including scales and pointy teeth. He was originally a sideshow wrestler until he turned to crime. Killer Croc's main powers are his extreme strength, regenerative healing and super-reflexes. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje will take on the role.

Enchantress

A powerful sorceress, Enchantress, portrayed by Cara Delevingne, is not in full control of her super-powers. She became a villain after battling Super Girl in an attempt to become omnipotent, helped by an evil demonic entity.

Captain Boomerang

This Australian assassin-for-hire has an arsenal of boomerangs, each of which offers unique powers. The character first appeared in an issue of The Flash in 1960. Aussie actor Jai Courtney will take up the role.

El Diablo

Skeleton-faced villain El Diablo joins the Suicide Squad in a bid for redemption. Originally a gangster with the power of pyrokinesis. Diablo accidentally burns down an apartment, killing numerous innocent women and children. He will be played by Jay Hernandez.

Slipknot

A hired assassin with a mastery of ropes and knots of all kinds, Slipknot, played by Adam Beach, was originally an enemy of another lesser-known character, Firestorm. He was eventually defeated and sent to prison, where he was recruited into the Suicide Squad.

Rick Flag

Charged with leading the team of super-nasties is Rick Flag, a no-nonsense military officer – portrayed by Joel Kinnaman - who took on the task after his father's death. He is skilled in demolition, infiltration and military tactics.

Katana

Expert swordswoman and martial arts master Katana wields a weapon called the Soultaker, which collects the souls of everyone it kills. Katana is in fact a superhero, rather than a villain and works as the personal bodyguard of Rich Flag. She will be played by Karen Fukuhara

The Wall

Amanda Waller is a doctor of political science who runs the Suicide Squad on behalf of the government. Her nickname - the Wall - is due to her reputation for stubbornness. Viola Davis takes the role.