Unless you’re a diehard DC Comics fan, you may have no idea what the Suicide Squad is. But Warner Brothers is making sure you’ll be interested in a Suicide Squad movie by putting together a killer group of actors to play this assembly of supervillains.
As first reported by Variety, Will Smith headlines the cast, giving Suicide Squad a big star to feature. He’ll portray Deadshot, a sniper and assassin with an arsenal of high-tech weaponry. As rumored a month ago, Academy Award winner Jared Leto will play The Joker, following in the large footsteps of Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger. Given that character’s profile and popularity, perhaps he should be considered the featured player. Tom Hardy stars as Rick Flagg, a special-ops soldier and field leader of the team.
Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) will play Harley Quinn, a psychotic former psychiatrist who’s been The Joker’s girlfriend and accomplice. Jai Courtney (A Good Day to Die Hard, Insurgent) is set to play Boomerang. You’ll never guess what his weapon of choice is. (Although some of them tend to be very sharp.) And model Cara Delevingne is portraying The Enchantress, a woman possessed by an evil being that gives her magical powers. (I’m a comic book fan and admit I know very little about this character.)
Yet to be cast is Amanda Waller, the government agent who leads this operation. Think of her as the DC Comics version of Marvel’s Nick Fury, who puts The Avengers together. Variety’s Justin Kroll reports that WB’s first choice to play the role is — believe it or not — Oprah Winfrey. Also under consideration are Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis.
Additionally, Jesse Eisenberg is reportedly in discussions to join the film, taking the role of Lex Luthor that he’s also playing in the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
There’s also considerable talent behind the camera, with David Ayer (Fury, End of Watch) tabbed to direct the film and write its script. He’s called the project The Dirty Dozen, but with supervillains. Ayer captured the entire concept of Suicide Squad in an interview with Empire magazine, asking “Does a movie really need good guys?”
That intriguing premise is why DC Comics and WB are so eager to put this group of bad guys on the big screen. The core concept is that the government offers an assortment of super-criminals a chance at having their records and prison sentences eliminated in exchange for participating in dangerous special operations that are very likely to kill them.
DC and WB have used the Suicide Squad in several of its other properties, indicating they’re big believers in the concept. A version of the team, including Deadshot and Waller, was featured in the second season of the CW show Arrow. Other incarnations have also been seen on the Justice League Unlimited cartoon and in the recent DC animated direct-to-video movie, Batman: Assault on Arkham.
http://youtu.be/ZN_jlZc6fzA
Suicide Squad is scheduled for an Aug. 5, 2016 release.
