The general convention has been that Marvel had a corner on the cinematic comic book movie universe. Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” run was successful and damn good to boot but it wasn’t the expansive all encompassing movie universe that DC fans have been waiting for.
2013 gave us “Man of Steel” and our first look at what the new DCMU will be. Since then Warner Brothers has announced “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” as well as a list of future plans, among them “Suicide Squad.”
The overarching plot of “Suicide Squad” revolves around a series of convicted super villains who are offered amnesty for previous crimes in exchange for taking on high risk missions for the government, should they survive that is.
Many big names have been swirling around the rumor bin over the past few weeks but today those rumors became cold hard fact. Many roles are still in need of filling include the team’s leader Amanda Waller (according to some sources Oprah Winfrey may be in the lead for that role) but what we do know is who will be playing the primary cast, and there are some pretty big names.
The cast includes Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, and Cara Delevingne as Enchantress. Tom Hardy is returning to the DC universe as Rick Flag, Will Smith will be Deadshot, and Jared Leto will play The Joker.
Already I’ve seen complaints about the latter two actors though I can’t imagine why. Smith is a fine actor with a nice pile of solid performances in his catalogue and for my money Leto can play anyone or anything. If you don’t think he can pull of the clown prince of crime just take a look at “Mr. Nobody” and see what he can do with some makeup and his acting chops.
In truth, I’ve had my doubts about the DCMU. Marvel set the bar pretty high and hasn’t really slipped up since “Iron Man.” Today’s announcement is maybe the first time I’ve felt confident in Warner’s ability to really pull this off. The cast shows that at least they are taking this seriously and if they can get the right creative people behind the scenes there’s no reason this should be anything less than spectacular.
“We look forward to seeing this terrific ensemble, under David Ayer’s amazing guidance, give new meaning to what it means to be a villain and what it means to be a hero.” Said Greg Silverman, president of Warner Bros. When it comes down to it, that’s what makes “Suicide Squad” so exciting. Some are worried that soon the super hero bubble may burst but stories like this may be just what we need to keep things fresh.
“Suicide Squad” begins filming next April and will be directed by David Ayer.
UPDATE: A previous version of this article included a photo of Marvel’s Enchantress character, it has since been corrected.