Back when DC first assembled its lethal band of classic villains for a Suicide Squad mission, director James Gunn was busy working for the competition (Marvel Studios) on the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. But once he was removed from that series, albeit temporarily, Warner Bros. swooped in and offered Gunn a shot at their insane and insanely violent super-villain. The result is coming to theaters and HBO Max in August, and the studio just dropped the latest colorful sizzle reel of the sheer madness that Gunn and his team have in store for DC fans.
And in that new trailer comes the tease of Superman's place in Gunn's universe. Watch the trailer above and buckle in.
The trailer focuses heavily on who I think will be the team leader in this blockbuster, and that’s Bloodsport, played by Idris Elba. And we get a vital piece of information regarding how badass this character is. He's in prison for taking down Superman with a kryptonite bullet. He actually put the Man of Steel in the ICU (not an easy task), and now he's serving his time. To clear up confusion, no, Elba's not playing Will Smith’s character from the first movie. He played Deadshot. Easy to confuse. It doesn't help that Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) is using Bloodsport’s daughter as bait to lure the killer onto her mission.
Kind of like she did to Will Smith’s Deadshot. Sorry, that confuses things.
Back to Henry Cavill for a hot second. Here's why I think that a cameo from the Man of Steel is possible. James Gunn's The Suicide Squad isn't directly connected to David Ayer's 2017 Suicide Squad. But Gunn's cast does borrow a few of the same players, notably Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang, and Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag, who is serving as unofficial government babysitter. It's hard not to link this movie with the 2017 movie... and do you remember who made multiple cameos in that film? Ben Affleck's Batman.
It would be very cool if Henry Cavill got to appear as Superman the way that Ben Affleck did in 2017's Suicide Squad, and the way that he ALMOST did at the very end of Shazam! (Before his head got cut off in an awkward scene.) It'd be an outstanding surprise for DC fans, and a very fun way for The Suicide Squad to pay some respect to the SnyderVerse.
Even without Superman, there are a ton of characters in James Gunn’s vision of this story, and the trailer shows off their powers better than any footage we have seen to date. We learn that the mission, in general, is to eliminate anything that could reveal the truth about Project Starfish, and we knew that the freaky DC creature Starro would play a role in the third act. We can see villains like Bloodsport, Harley Quinn (Robbie) and King Shark either responding to the massive Starro, or fighting with it. And losing. This is a suicide mission, after all.
But this latest trailer also shows off the humor that’s going to be evident in The Suicide Squad, as we’d expect thanks to every James Gunn movie (even beyond the Guardians adventures). Blackguard (Pete Davidson) being weirded out by Weasel (Sean Gunn) speaks for all of us. Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) comes off as one of the wildest characters we’ve seen on display in a comic-book movie, and the VFX used to bring his powers to life are extraordinary. And then there’s unpredictable Harley, who holds the team up because she “had to go number two.” TMI, dear Ms. Quinn.
[The Suicide Squad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheSuicideSquad_(film) will be another movie that’s utilizing the split that Warner Bros. committed to earlier this year. This means that come August 6, the blockbuster will be available to watch in a theater, but also on HBO Max if you happen to be a subscriber. That’s a win for consumers, but an issue for movie theaters who really need patrons to come back in droves. Choose wisely.
