10 Things Revealed in the ‘Suicide Squad’ Trailer

KoWhen director David Ayer took the stage at Comic-Con International in San Diego this year, we knew we were going to get something special from the Suicide Squad movie, but we didn’t know how special it was going to be! He presented a full length trailer for the movie, which is still filming in Toronto. Those of us in Hall H were blown away by it and thankfully, a few days later, Warner Bros released the trailer online in HD. After viewing it multiple times frame-by-frame, here are ten things that were revealed to us in the trailer.
1. Batman makes a cameo.
If you’ve been following Batman News, then you know that Ben Affleck was spotted on set of Suicide Squad as Bruce Wayne, but you also might know that they filmed a car chase scene with Batman going after the Joker and Harley. We’re not sure how big of a part Batman will have in the movie, but we do know he’s in it and that quite possibly the Joker will be the main antagonist in the solo Batman movie. We also don’t know why he’s going after the Joker, but we can speculate that it might be because of the message he sent Batman in the Batman V Superman trailer about killing Robin.
2. New Suicide Squad logo.
The logo for the new movie was also revealed in the trailer and it’s a different take on the logo from the comic books. The logo in the comic books has a gun crosshairs instead of the letter Q while the movie version has a smiley face with x’s for eyes. This could be a nod towards the film version’s squad being more heavily influenced by the Joker.
3. First Harley Quinn movie representation.
Harley Quinn has never been portrayed in a movie before Suicide Squad. She would have been featured in Batman Triumphant, the sequel to Batman and Robin (played by Madonnna), but the idea was scrapped after the universally negative reviews of the movie came out. From what we see in the trailer, it looks like a pretty classic take on her character by Margot Robbie with a twist on her origin story (see #6).
4. Amanda Waller has a different approach than the TV version.
We’ve seen Amanda Waller portrayed on television in the CW show, Arrow, but the silver screen version has a different way of convincing her villains to work for her. In the TV show, the squad has a bomb implanted in their neck that she can set off if they don’t follow her instructions or try to escape. In the trailer for the movie, the military man asks, “what makes you think you can control them?”. Waller replies, “because getting people to act against their own self interests is what I do for a living.” We’re not sure exactly how she can convince them to work for her without saying no, but if the shots of the squad members with their family members, children, girlfriends, etc. Is any indication, then she’s either threatening harm to them or providing access to them in exchange for working for her. Being that they are criminals and probably all in jail, then we might assume it’s the latter.
5. Enchantress origin story?
In the comic books, freelance artist June Moone gets invited to a costume party at an old castle. She ends up being empowered by a magical being to fight evil in the castle. When she says “The Enchantress”, it changes her from blonde-haired June to the dark-haired Enchantress. She later joins the Suicide Squad and wavers between good and evil and being able to control her powers and also be taken over by her powers. It appears that this character will get a new origin story in the movie as we see Cara Delevingne in the trailer as both blonde and brunette…as a mere mortal and in costume as Enchantress. We get a brief glance at her human character walking through a dark cave and seeing something. Perhaps she gets possessed by an ancient spirit in the rocks? It remains to be seen.
6. Joker creates Harley Quinn.
Harley Quinn’s comic book origin sets her up as a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum named Harleen Quinzel who is treating the Joker because she’s fascinated with him. She ends up falling in love with him and together they escape. She is captured, has her license revoked and is placed in a cell. In this trailer, it looks like the movie version is taking a different tact with her origin story. During the assault on Arkham Asylum (see #10), Dr. Quinzel is grabbed and strapped to a table. We later see the Joker taunting her and then torturing her through what appears to be shock therapy. In short, he fries her brain and creates the messed up person that becomes Harley Quinn.
7. Is Joker leading from the shadows?
We all saw the ending of the trailer with the Joker coming out of the shadows and talking about torturing somebody, but you may have missed a split second appearance earlier in the trailer. He’s walking inside what might be Arkham Asylum with Jim Parrack’s character (still don’t know who he’s playing for sure). He seems to be in charge and running things from the shadows. We don’t know if he’s escaping or returning to the mental hospital, but the implications are intriguing.
8. Joker’s henchmen have a sense of humor.
Throughout the trailer we see henchmen with masks on…giant eyeball, a goat head and this person wearing a Batman mask. You have to give Joker credit for having a sense of humor about his biggest nemesis.
9. Suicide Squad takes place after Batman V Superman.
“Maybe Superman was some kind of beacon for them to creep back from the shadows.” These words uttered by Amanda Waller over this cave scene indicate that Superman already exists in this world and that this movie takes place after the events of Batman V Superman or at least after Man of Steel. Seeing Batman in the trailer makes us think it’s after BVS, especially if he’s going after the Joker for what he did to Robin, and which we saw hints of in the trailer for BVS.
10. There’s an assault on Arkham Asylum.
Either the Joker is being broken out of Arkham Asylum or he’s breaking in, we’re not sure. Makes more sense to have his henchmen break him out of the asylum, but maybe he’s breaking back in to capture Harleen Quinzel and torture her. How do we know it’s Arkham Asylum? A few clues- Harleen worked at AA before she became Harley Quinn…AND…check out what’s written on the Joker’s pants in the above still. Now unless he likes to wear prison garb in his free time, we’re assuming that he’s in Arkham Asylum and gets broken out.
So, what do you think? Did you see anything else in the trailer that may provide clues to the plot of the Suicide Squad movie? Sound off in the comments below.