Whether you loved it or hated it, there's no question that David Ayer's Suicide Squad made a huge impression when it debuted in August. The Task Force X solo team-up movie garnered a highly respectable $746 million at the box office and widespread praise from fans, but it was also critically panned. Now it seems that the people have spoken, as a Suicide Squad sequel is officially in development for the DCEU.
With that in mind, we have taken it upon ourselves to go over some of Suicide Squad's more notable flaws, and offer up some solutions. We have compiled a list of ways in which Suicide Squad 2 can actually improve upon the original. Some of these ideas are rooted in story, while others are rooted in character, but all of them will make for a fundamentally better film. Now, let's get the ball rolling by dropping one of the first film's weakest heroes.
Ditch Rick Flag
Out of all the characters in Suicide Squad, arguably the least likeable member of the core ensemble was the one we were supposed to identify with the most. Against a backdrop of colorful characters, Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag proved to be arguably more flat and bland than any comic book movie character in recent memory. The love-struck, chicken-eating soldier did little more than talk like he was doing his best impression of Tom Hardy in The Revenant, and his presence during the mission (coupled with the presence of an entire team of Navy SEALs) genuinely detracted from the clandestine nature of Task Force X's mission. Let Deadshot take control in Suicide Squad 2, and give Flag a much-needed vacation. After all, he golfs with a 3 handicap.
Make Amanda Waller Even Scarier
Make no mistake; Viola Davis gave one of the best performances out of the entire Suicide Squad cast as Amanda Waller. However, the film seemed to have quite a bit of trouble figuring out how to really use her. By the time she found herself face to face with Enchantress in the middle of Midway City, Waller had lost much of the menace that the earlier scenes in the movie had established. There's a reason why DC's toughest villains fear Amanda Waller, and Suicide Squad 2 needs to do a better job of selling this diminutive woman as a major threat to characters like Deadshot, Deathstroke, and other villains with "death" in their names.
Use Even More Obscure Villains
Between Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, and The Joker, there's no question that Suicide Squad skewed too close to well known baddies from the Batman mythos. There's an entire pantheon of DC rogues to include on the Task Force X roster, and part of Suicide Squad's charm is the fact that it allows C- and D-list characters to receive representation in awesome stories. The first film already proved that obscure characters like El Diablo could have emotionally deep arcs, and the sequel should use that opportunity to continue exploring DC villains who would normally never have a chance to shine on the silver screen.
Scale Down The Action
Let me make one thing perfectly clear: Task Force X is not the Justice League. Suicide Squad is designed from the ground up to tell small-scale stories about a black ops team going on clandestine missions. These are stories that are well suited for fistfights, gunfights, and car chases. With that in mind, Suicide Squad 2 needs to scale down the action and focus on gritty intensity over CGI spectacle. If the sequel sees the team once again facing off against a giant portal in the sky that has the potential to destroy the entire planet, then it will completely defeat the inherent purpose of a Suicide Squad story.
Actually Make The Suicide Squad Bad Guys
Suicide Squad repeatedly beat us over the head with references to the fact that Task Force X was made up of DC's "worst of the worst." That's an awesome idea in theory, but in practice the film never really depicted these characters as anything more than anti-heroes. This problem was compounded by the fact that they faced off against an ultimate evil that quite literally wanted to destroy the world. If Suicide Squad 2 wants to capitalize on the core idea behind its premise, then it will need to depict its main characters as legitimate bad guys who harbor bad intentions for anyone and everyone around them. If we want real heroes, we will go see Justice League.
Rack Up A Higher Body Count
You have to admit, for a movie about a team sent on a suicide mission, Suicide Squad sure did skimp on the death. The core idea of a Suicide Squad movie is the fact that anyone can die at any given time, and the DC universe won't miss them. I understand that you want to use actors like Will Smith and Margot Robbie as much as possible, but when your only two major deaths are Slipknot and El Diablo, AND when only one of those deaths has any emotional impact, there's a problem. Suicide Squad 2 needs to be less afraid to kill the members of Task Force X, and it needs to be willing to send them out in grand fashion.
How do you think Suicide Squad 2 can improve upon the original? Let us know what you think in the comments section below to keep this conversation going!
