A Closer Look at the Suicide Squad Movie

Certainly the most unlikely movie on Warner Bros. slate of DC Comics superhero movies (yes, even more unlikely than Aquaman), is Suicide Squad. The DC superhero schedule will only be officially two movies old in 2016. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice arrives in March of that year, and is focused on introducing as many heroes as possible in advance of the 2017 Justice League movie. Rather than focus on jumping right in for more solo films, Warner Bros. opted to do something unexpected and start building up their villains...and that's where Suicide Squad comes in.

Things are coming together quickly for the Suicide Squad movie. The latest news involves names like Jared Leto and Margot Robbie joining up as two high-profile villains, with Jai Courtney headed for the part of another team mainstay. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. (along with DC Entertainment) has been quietly positioning the Suicide Squad for stardom over the last year or two. From a well-received appearance on Arrowto an animated film where they co-headlined with Batman to a continued profile-raising in the pages of the comics, it's been clear for some time that there were plans for the team.

For now, here's everything we know in one place about the upcoming Suicide Squad movie.

Suicide Squad Movie Cast

Nobody has officially signed on the dotted line just yet, although it now looks likely that Jared Leto is set to play the Joker, with Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, and Jesse Eisenberg reprising his Lex Luthor role from Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Wait...these aren't characters typically associated with the Suicide Squad, right? Well, it looks like Warner Bros would like to front load this, one of their less recognizable concepts, with big name villains, and now director David Ayer is working on a rewrite of Justin Marks' screenplay to accomodate this. Plus, Harley Quinn has been hanging out with the Squad quite a bit in the comics, and even had a brief cameo on their Arrow episode.

As for the rest of the cast, here's what little we know. It now appears that Jai Courtney (Terminator: Genisys) is in talks to play Deadshot, Tom Hardy is being sought to play Suicide Squad leader Colonel Rick Flag, and Will Smith is being considered for Digger Harkness, better known to fans as Captain Boomerang.

Other names that have come up in connection with Suicide Squad include Tom Hardy and Will Smith. Tom Hardy as Deathstroke or Captain Boomerang and Will Smith as Deadshot, perhaps? We'd sign up for that. Expect casting announcements to start falling like bombs any minute, as Suicide Squad has an August 5th, 2016 release date to hit.

Suicide Squad Movie Production

Right now, the only people officially involved are director David Ayer (Fury) and Justin Marks, who wrote a 2011 Suicide Squad screenplay, that appears to be undergoing some revisions (more on that in a minute), but we should hear more any minute. Dan Lin was set to produce the film at one point, but we don't know if that's still the case.

In the meantime, Mr. Ayer has promised that he wants this movie to be like "The Dirty Dozen with supervillains" and has asked the question..."does a movie really need good guy?"

Suicide Squad Movie Story

There's little to report on this one at the moment. Here's what you need to know, though. The Suicide Squad is Task Force X, a secret government unit comprised of supervillains and mercenaries. They're offered a chance at redemption by running black ops missions for the US Government under the watchful eye of Amanda Waller. The problem is, these missions, well...they don't really expect you to come out of it alive. See for yourself.

Oh, and if you try and defy orders and use this opportunity as a chance to escape? They have a solution for that. Each criminal is fitted with subcutaneous explosives that will quite literally blow their heads off if they try and return to their villainous ways. We imagine that this won't deviate too far from that concept.

Justin Marks' 2011 Suicide Squad draft included Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Vixen, Multiplex, Blockbuster, and the even less well-known Jaculi and Mindboggler. We now also hear that Rick Flag is involved. This is what you call cannon fodder, boys and girls. Now we can safely add the Joker, Harley Quinn, and possibly Lex Luthor to that list. Given the fact that Deathstroke just had a star turn on Arrowseason two and is currently leading the team in the comics, don't be surprised if he pops up, as well.

We took a closer look at all the movies on Warner Bros. DC Superhero Schedule right here.

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