The Suicide Squad

*"This is suicide.""Well, that's kind of our thing.""Yeah!"*
―Thinker, Rick Flag and Polka-Dot Man
***The Suicide Squad*** is a 2021 superhero comedy film based on the DC Comics team of the same name. Co-produced by DC Studios and the The Safran Company and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, the first film to be a retrofitted in the DC Universe. The film was released on August 5, 2021 in theaters and on Max.

The film is directed by James Gunn and stars Margot Robbie as Dr. Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn, Idris Elba as Robert DuBois/Bloodsport, John Cena as Christopher Smith/Peacemaker, Joel Kinnaman as Colonel Rick Flag, Sylvester Stallone as the voice of Nanaue/King Shark, Viola Davis as Director Amanda Waller, David Dastmalchian as Abner Krill/Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Cleo Cazo/Ratcatcher 2, Jai Courtney as George "Digger" Harkness/Captain Boomerang, Peter Capaldi as Dr. Gaius Grieves/Thinker, Michael Rooker as Brian Durlin/Savant, Alice Braga as Sol Soria, and Pete Davidson as Richard Hertz/Blackguard.

The film is humorously split into ten chapters that appear blended into the characters' surroundings in different ways: "*3 Days Earlier*", "*Now*", "*Meanwhile, Harley*", "*Bring Me the Heads of the Suicide Squad*", "*Operation: Jotunheim*", "*Operation: Harley*", "*Jotunheim*", "*Dirty Little Secrets*", "*8 Minutes Earlier*", and "*Suicide Squad vs. Starro the Conqueror*".

A spin-off television series, *Peacemaker,* premiered in January 2022.

## The Suicide Squad

### Produced by

Charles Roven
Peter Safran
James Gunn

## Synopsis

*Welcome to hell — a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin, and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave...and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.*

## Plot

Commanded by Amanda Waller, imprisoned convicts of Belle Reve penitentiary are incentivized to form Task Force X — a black ops group working on behalf of the American Government through A.R.G.U.S.. The task force is sent to the South American island of Corto Maltese to destroy Jotunheim, a Nazi-era prison and laboratory which held political prisoners and conducted experiments. The Thinker, an extremely intelligent metahuman, works with the Corto Maltesean government as the laboratory's scientist, overseeing "Project Starfish," involving a giant starfish-like creature dubbed "Starro."

The team, consisting of Harley Quinn, Rick Flag, Captain Boomerang (along with new team members The Detachable Kid, Mongal, Javelin, Savant, Blackguard, and Weasel) are deployed onto a Corto Maltese beach in order to infiltrate the island and destroy the lab. After being ambushed by the regime's soldiers, all but Harley and Flag are killed. Harley is captured while Flag disappears into the jungle. Team 2 arrives, with Bloodsport, King Shark, Ratcatcher 2, Polka-Dot Man, and Peacemaker, who encounter no trouble from any soldiers due to Team 1's sacrificial distraction.

The team discovers a rural base where they believe Rick is being held prisoner. After stealthily assassinating all of the soldiers at the base, they are surprised to encounter Rick pleasantly socializing with Sol Soria, leader of a group of freedom fighters opposing the local regime. The team realizes they have just killed a good number of the rebels. Nevertheless, they convince Soria to join forces with them to stop Silvio Luna, the new dictator of Corto Maltese.

A captive Harley is taken to Luna's palace, where it is revealed that Luna wants Harley as his partner. After a short fling, Luna proposes to Harley. Initially, she accepts, but Luna's unsettling speech about sacrificing families, including children, to "Project: Starfish" results in Harley shooting him in the chest. Harley is subsequently arrested by Luna's men and tortured as a result.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team stake out a nightclub, waiting for The Thinker to arrive to use him as a method of infiltrating Jotunheim. Shortly after his arrival, Luna's soldiers raid the club looking for the team. Ratcatcher 2, Polka-Dot Man, and King Shark leave with The Thinker while Rick, Bloodsport, and Peacemaker create a diversion by surrendering to the soldiers. While being transported, they are told by one of the soldiers that Harley is alive and being interrogated by Luna's second-in-command, General Suarez. The team manages to escape by killing the soldiers and crashing the convoy. Ratcatcher 2, Polka-Dot Man, and King Shark reunite with the rest of the team and agree to save Harley before resuming the mission.

Back at the palace, Harley escapes and proceeds to kill the palace's guards, finally exiting and meeting the rest of the team who were on their way into the palace to save her. The team sneaks into Jotunheim and begins to rig the building with explosives while the regime's army surrounds the building. The group splits in two to complete their tasks. Harley, Bloodsport, and Polka-Dot Man head for other floors to continue setting explosives. Soldiers attack them, and in panic, Polka-Dot Man releases his metahuman powers, promptly triggering the bombs to go off.

The building begins to collapse. Bloodsport is separated from the rest as he falls down the building with the debris. Flag, Ratcatcher 2, Peacemaker, and The Thinker are down in the underground laboratory where Starro is contained. The Thinker reveals how gruesome the experiments truly were and how the American government played a prominent role in the project all along.

Outraged and betrayed, Flag finds the drive with all the project's evidence and threatens to release it to the press. However, Peacemaker, believing that peace will be maintained if the information never gets out, draws his sidearm on Flag. The bombs from upstairs cause the laboratory to collapse and engulf them. After recuperating, a fight between Flag and Peacemaker ensues. As the debris settles, Starro is released by the destruction and kills The Thinker. Ratcatcher 2 escapes and witnesses Peacemaker murdering Flag. Peacemaker sees her take the drive and chases her down. As he readies to shoot Ratcatcher 2, Bloodsport falls from the crumbling debris and shoots Peacemaker, incapacitating him.

The surviving team members reunite just as Starro breaks out of the laboratory. Terrified, the team runs out of the ruined building while the creature releases spores, which attach themselves to the soldiers' faces, controlling them. The creature and the clone army head towards the city and wreak havoc. Finally with signal, Waller is able to contact the team, informing them that the mission is successfully over, as they have destroyed the lab.

However, the team watches as Starro destroys the city; they refuse Waller's orders and agree to stop the creature from killing more people. The remaining team of Harley, Bloodsport, Polka-Dot Man, King Shark, and Ratcatcher 2 all work together to take down Starro. Polka-Dot Man triumphantly damages one of Starro's legs, but is immediately crushed to death. Meanwhile, Harley has a close call. In a final and desperate attempt, Ratcatcher 2 summons the city's rats to overpower the beast. It is finally taken down when Harley uses a javelin to launch herself into Starro's eye, leading the rats to the creature's nerves; they chew them, killing Starro. Relieved, the team regroups. Bloodsport blackmails Waller with the drive, demanding she let them go free in return for their silence about the U.S. involvement in "Project: Starfish."

In a mid-credits scene, Weasel is revealed to have been merely unconscious on the beach, coughing up water and running away into the jungle, now free of Waller and the Squad. In a post-credits scene, Waller's team visits a wounded Peacemaker with more assignments to complete.

## Cast

* Margot Robbie as Dr. Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn
* Idris Elba as Robert DuBois/Bloodsport
* John Cena as Christopher Smith/Peacemaker
* Joel Kinnaman as Colonel Rick Flag
* Sylvester Stallone as Nanaue/King Shark (voice)
	+ Steve Agee as Nanaue/King Shark on-set
* Viola Davis as Director Amanda Waller
* David Dastmalchian as Abner Krill/Polka-Dot Man
* Daniela Melchior as Cleo Cazo/Ratcatcher 2
	+ Maya Le Clark as Young Cleo Cazo
* Jai Courtney as George "Digger" Harkness/Captain Boomerang
* Peter Capaldi as Dr. Gaius Grieves/Thinker
* Michael Rooker as Brian Durlin/Savant
* Alice Braga as Sol Soria
* Pete Davidson as Richard Hertz/Blackguard
* Joaquín Cosío as Mayor General/Presidente Mateo Suarez
* Juan Diego Botto as General Presidente Silvio Luna
* Storm Reid as Tyla DuBois
* Nathan Fillion as Cory Pitzner/T.D.K.
* Taika Waititi as Ratcatcher
* Steve Agee as Warden John Economos
* Sean Gunn as Weasel and Calendar Man
* Julio Ruiz as Milton
* Flula Borg as Gunter Braun/Javelin
* Tinashe Kajese as Flo Crawley
* Mayling Ng as Mongal
* Jennifer Holland as Agent Emilia Harcourt
* John Ostrander as Dr. Fitzgibbon
* Jared Leland Gore as Double Down
* Stephen Blackehart as Briscoe
* Mikaela Hoover as Camila
* Natalia Safran as Kaleidoscope
* Dee Bradley Baker as Sebastian (voice)

## Appearances

### Locations

* Earth
	+ Africa (map)
		- Algeria (map)
		- Angola (map)
		- Botswana (map)
		- Cameroon (map)
		- Democratic Republic of the Congo (map)
		- Egypt (map)
		- Gabon (map)
		- Kenya (map)
		- Libya (map)
		- Madagascar (map)
		- Mali (map)
		- Mauritania (map)
		- Morocco (map)
		- Mozambique (map)
		- Namibia (map)
		- Niger (map)
		- Nigeria (map)
		- Somalia (map)
		- Sudan (map)
		- South Africa (map)
		- Tanzania (map)
		- Zambia (map)
	+ Antarctica (map)
	+ Asia
		- Afghanistan (mentioned)
		- China (mentioned)
		- Iraq (map)
		- Iran (map)
		- Japan (mentioned)
		- Jordan (map)
		- Oman (map)
		- Qurac (mentioned)
		- Russia (mentioned)
		- Saudi Arabia (map)
		- United Arab Emirates (map)
	+ Europe (flashbacks)
		- Portugal (flashbacks)
			* Porto (flashbacks)
				+ Igreja dos Clérigos (flashback)
	+ Mar Caribe (map)
	+ North America
		- United States of America
			* Louisiana
				+ Belle Reve
			* White House (mentioned)
			* Washington
				+ Charlton County
					- Evergreen
						* Mount Rouge Health Center
	+ Oceania (map)
	+ South America
		- Corto Maltese
			* Avenida Medrano
			* Calle Aguero
			* Calle Principal
			* La Gatita Amable
			* Valle Del Mar
				+ Jotunheim

### Events

* Cold War (footage)
	+ Capture of Starro (footage)
* Execution of the Herreras (footage)
* New Cold War
	+ Mission in Corto Maltese
		- Battle on the Corto Maltese Beach
		- Massacre of the Maltese Resistance
		- Murder of Silvio Luna
		- Escape from Silvio Luna's palace
		- Destruction of Jotunheim
		- Battle of Valle Del Mar
* World War II (mentioned)

* MTS
* Nano-bomb detonators
* Power dampener
* Rat communicator
* Trick boomerangs
* Weaponized javelin
* Bloodsport's suit
* Polka-Dot Man's gauntlets

* Humans
* Kryptonians (mentioned)
* Metahumans
* Dogs
* Parrots
* Pigeons
* Rats
	+ Sebastian
* Sharks (mentioned)
* Starro
* Werewolves (mentioned)

### Organizations

* A.R.G.U.S.
* Corto Maltese Armed Forces
* Galaxy Broadcasting System
* Maltese Resistance
* NASA (footage)
* NSA
* Task Force X
* United States Army
* Herrera family (footage)
* Nazi Party (mentioned)
* S.T.A.R. Labs (mentioned)
* FC Barcelona (logo)
* WXPT

## Production

### Pre-production

In September 2017, a sequel to *Suicide Squad* was reported to be in development, with Gavin O'Connor writing the script, based on a previous draft by Zak Penn.

In October 2018, Warner Bros confirmed that James Gunn will produce the latest draft of the script for the film.

On January 30, 2019, Warner Bros. announced that the film will be named *The Suicide Squad*, and set a release date of August 6, 2021, with James Gunn also directing.

Prior to the film's teasers coming out, James Gunn teased repeatedly on social media that most of the characters would die in *The Suicide Squad*. For a long time, many fans assumed that characters such as Harley Quinn and Rick Flag were safe thanks to their popularity. However, on October 24, 2020, Gunn informed several shocked and horrified fans that he insisted he be allowed to kill any character he wanted before he came to work for DC, which the company agreed to.

On July 26, 2021, Gunn revealed that *The Suicide Squad* was never his original intended title for the film, and that it started as a joke. For a time, the film was called *Dogs of War*, but when Gunn made a joke about just adding "The" to the title of the 2016 film when he pitched it to Warner Bros, they loved it and opted for the joke title.

### Filming

On September 20, 2019, James Gunn revealed on Instagram that filming has officially already begun. On February 28, 2020, James Gunn announced on Instagram that the film has officially wrapped production.

### Post-production

On May 6, 2020, some news outlets began reporting that longtime James Gunn collaborator Tyler Bates had joined the project as composer, but this turned out to be incorrect. The next day, *Slash Film* reported that the film would actually be composed by John Murphy instead. On August 22, 2020, DC FanDome released a Roll Call trailer which confirmed the cast and characters in the film.

After periodic teases of the film's progress, James Gunn appeared at a panel for the film at the online CCXP Worlds event on December 6, 2020, and confirmed that the film is almost completely done, stating that "the final cut is locked, it's just some final tweaks that need finishing. Like, music and color-correction and stuff."

On December 31, 2020, after teasing and implying the film's rating for months, Gunn confirmed on Twitter that *The Suicide Squad* will indeed be rated R.

On July 9, 2021, James Gunn confirmed the release date would be moving up a day to August 5, 2021, which was, coincidentally, his birthday.

## References

1. ↑ 'The Suicide Squad' Official Synopsis Teases a New Crew & Another Bonkers Mission
2. ↑ "‘Suicide Squad 2’: Gavin O’Connor to Write and Direct Sequel" - Variety
3. ↑ "James Gunn to Tackle 'Suicide Squad' Sequel for Warner Bros." - The Hollywood Reporter
4. ↑ "'The Batman,' 'The Suicide Squad' Set 2021 Release Dates" - The Hollywood Reporter
5. ↑ James Gunn (@JamesGunn) - Twitter
6. ↑ Kevin Polowy on Twitter
7. ↑ James Gunn confirms The Suicide Squad has begun filming
8. ↑ Fandom (@getFANDOM) - Twitter
9. ↑ James Gunn announces shooting has wrapped on The Suicide Squad
10. ↑ Composer Tyler Bates joins James Gunn's The Suicide Squad - Cinema Express
11. ↑ Exclusive: ‘The Suicide Squad’ Score to Be Composed By John Murphy
12. ↑ The Suicide Squad - Roll Call
13. ↑ The Suicide Squad's Final Edit is Complete, James Gunn Confirms - ScreenRant
14. ↑ James Gunn Confirms The Suicide Squad Is Rated R - ScreenRant
15. ↑ James Gunn on Twitter

## External links

* The Suicide Squad on DC Database
* The Suicide Squad on Wikipedia
* The Suicide Squad at the Internet Movie Database