The Suicide Squad is shaping up to be Spectacular

Amidst the world of superhero movies, by late 2013, Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Comics were committing themselves to entering the fray with their own popular characters. When revealing their own film lineup to compete with Marvel, the third entry in the DC Cinematic Universe behind Man of Steel and the insanely awesome-looking Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is the David Ayer-directed Suicide Squad. This movie leads an all-star cast from Will Smith as the super-sniper "Deadshot", and the incredibly attractive Margot Robbie as queen clown creep "Harley Quinn", just to name a few.

Just like my discussion with the Batman V Superman trailer, I'd recommend that anyone unfamiliar with this property or anyone who hasn't seen the trailer to click on the following link to see it for themselevs, then return to discuss: Suicide Squad Trailer

With all that being seen and said, now we can talk about what we saw. I must say, for being an amalgamation of characters barely more recognized than the Guardians of the Galaxy, this trailer does a fantastic job of presenting to audiences the tone of the film, and the DC Cinematic Universe as a whole. What you get when you go see a DC movie is an idea that they're not afraid to go dark, both with its color palettes and its stories. They take characters that could otherwise be butchered to camp, such as a Harley Quinn or a Joker, and display them as damaged people, people that have been brutally and horrifically attacked in one way or another in their lives. DC isn't afraid to make it's viewers afraid. Some might say they do this directly because of Marvel's brighter and more lighthearted tone (which I can appreciate), but I believe that DC is very much so a more spiritual approach to the human condition - showing characters we know and love, like Batman in The Dark Knight trilogy or Man of Steel at the times when they can be at their lowest, and see them rise up stronger than ever before. This hopeful idealism of heroes facing their demons is something that will be interesting to see in a movie littered with villains.

Unfortunately, there isn't much to speculate on beyond what the tone of the movie this will be. The actors, aside from Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, and Viola Davis, were not seen enough to be able to make judgement or opinions on; be that as it may, what I saw from these three was phenomenal, and right on the money with their comic character counterparts. Viola Davis, for those of you who don't know, will be playing government agent Amanda Waller, a tough-as-nails woman who recruits and runs Task Force X, a.k.a. the Suicide Squad. Historically, she recruits low-level villains and threatens their lives or those the Squadders love in order to manipulate them to do whatever job she needs to do. As said in the trailer, if they fail, the government has an easy blame with the squad. If they succeed, the government can continue to utilize their talents and take credit at the same time. I'm excited to see what more Davis can do.

Seeing Margot Robbie on-screen confirmed all a lot of Harley Quinn, but mostly of her damaged, post-Joker relationship. For those unaware, debuting in Batman: The Animated Series, Harley Quinn was a psychologist, Dr. Harleen Quinzel (clever, right?), who worked at Arkham Asylum. One day, her patient tasked to her was none other than the Joker. Fascinated with the criminal mind in general, and infatuated with the Clown Prince of Crime, Harleen became "Harley Quinn", Joker's right-wing gal and partner in crime...but also a subject of constant abuse. When Harley arrived to the comics beyond a child's television program, it's shown more graphically that Harley was often the subject of the Joker's anger and frustrations. However, no matter how much abuse Harley received, the Joker always knew how to win back her affections. We see in the trailer that this Harley Quinn is a damaged woman, and there are even a few frames in the teaser where we can see Margot Robbie without the Harley Quinn make-up...could we see her as the intelligent psychologist in some flashbacks? Perhaps, even, there will be a scene or two where it's revealed what exactly the Joker did to her. Whatever the case, I think most would be in agreement that Margot Robbie will be one of the best parts of the movie.

Speaking of clowns, the Joker quickly slipped in at the end of the teaser, and by God, if that wasn't the best part. Hearing Jared Leto's voice molded in a Joker-like manner and speaking those words is absolutely haunting, and you can tell that this guy definitely has given Ben Affleck's Batman a run for his money a time or two. I've already talked about the look of Joker, so to see him in action and speaking is a breath of fresh air. I don't envy Leto having to follow up Heath Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight - that's a social bridge anyone crossing would fall through. Hopefully, however, after seeing what Leto's bringing to the table, fans will rest easy and root for him, just like I am. After seeing this teaser, I have absolutely no reservations about what Jared Leto's Joker will be - it'll be awesome.

As for the rest of the squad, there's not much to say. They didn't do much, and we only heard tidbits from Will Smith's "Deadshot" and Jai Courtney's "Boomerang". Leaving more for fans to see is great, I'm just hoping that this doesn't become the clown show. I'd like to see plenty more from the rest of the squad, because there's a lot of talent to go around: Cara Delevingne as "Enchantress", Joel Kinnaman as "Rick Flagg", Adewlae Akinnuoye-Agbaje as "Killer Croc" (who I'm most excited to see more from), Jay Hernandez as "El Diablo", Adam Beach as "Slipknot", and Karen Fukuhara as "Katana" are all full of potential in the movie. Their characters are also varied in abilities, from Enchantress's magical connections to Katana's sword skills. This movie has a lot of good going for it, and I just can't wait to see it.