We’ve now gotten our first taste of what to expect when James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad lands in cinemas and can we just say…WOW.
For one thing, the cast of the follow up to the 2016 DC movie is out of this world. Joining Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and her crew of supervillains is Idris Elba as Bloodsport who pulls a knife on Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller in the first minute of the trailer so we know he’s not one to be messed with.
It turns out that Waller has basically blackmailed Bloodsport, who is incarcerated for shooting Superman with a Kryptonite bullet, into joining the team by using his daughter’s trouble with the law as leverage. So that maybe explains the whole knife attack thing, or maybe he’s just stone cold crazy which, of course, makes him the perfect addition to the squad.
Also getting on board are newcomers to the franchise John Cena as Peacemaker, comedian Pete Davidson as Blackguard and Sylvester Stallone as the voice of King Shark. Meanwhile, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag are back for more antics.
This time around, the Belle Reve misfits have been tasked with a mission “more important than you could possibly imagine” — aka taking on Starro who is an alien in the shape of a starfish because why not! As it turns out, starfish are not just dried sea life that people in Florida attach to tacky lamps with hot glue guns, but super evil forces that must be destroyed at all costs. Go figure.
According to ScreenRant, “in the DC comics, Starro has long played a significant role. He was the very first villain the Justice League ever faced. Although Starro looks like a giant starfish, he is actually highly intelligent – and not from Earth. Starro belongs to an ancient race of aliens called the Star Conquerors. Their plans included using their mind control powers to conquer planets. In the comics, Starro has been able to conquer over nine galaxies by himself.”
So he sounds impressive, but will he be any match for Idris Elba’s knife skills and simmering rage? Probably not, although it does seem as though Waller is forced to send in two separate teams to vanquish the diabolical crustacean so fans have deduced that one group is unsuccessful in their attempt.
2016’s Suicide Squad, which was directed by David Ayer, was critically panned but still managed to be the tenth highest-grossing film that year, taking in $746 million at the global box office. Harley Quinn’s standalone feature film Birds of Prey starring Robbie was released in 2020 — faring better on the review front but falling short commercially with only $201 million in box office receipts worldwide.
The Suicide Squad will be in cinemas from August 5, 2021.
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