Back when faithful comic book movies were just a pipe dream, a friend and I would talk about our hopes for Avengers and Justice League. Older, wiser, and the share of comics ahead of me already under his belt, he said that either, such movies would have to be several hours long to showcase each character, or solo movies should lead up to the ensemble piece. Some twenty years later, those movies have been made realities. We now see that Avengers took the latter route, and Justice League will be doing the former. But, not only is DC introducing their Justice Leaguers via team-ups, but will give their villains the same treatment.
Both Smallville and Arrow had their versions of Suicide Squad on the small-screen. Now it’s time to see them on the big screen. And what better way to do so than in all their bloody glory from the comics.
Below are five reasons for my argument:
5. The Source Material Calls For It
By now, we’ve seen multiple versions of DC’s characters in live-action. Some interpretations have been campy, and some have been gritty -while some found a happy medium. Though, some of the more gritty, yet lesser-known, movies have been rated R, DC’s big-timers, such as Batman and Superman, never reached past PG-13. The pages of their source material, however, have featured acts where, if on-screen, would indeed receive, at least, an R rating, if not NC-17. Seven-folds more money is spent to make movies than comics. And when money is spent, more has to make its way back in profit. PG-13 reaches more audiences. But to truly reflect the source material, and satisfy comic book readers and film-goers alike, R is preferred.
In the trailer, you hear Will Smith as Deadshot refer to the team as Suicide Squad. Even though that is the name of the comic and movie, the team is actually called Task Force X. Amanda Waller, a government agent, formed the program for super-criminals to reduce their prison sentence. It was the members who gave their team the nickname, referring to the danger of the missions. On Arrow, David Ramsey’s John Diggle, who serves as a member on the show’s version of the team, utters a line very similar to Will Smith’s. Though both Ramsey and Smith declare the name as the degree of danger, the nickname also refers to a bomb planted in their heads, set to go off if they decide to go AWOL. This happened to Shrapnel on Arrow. But, to conform to the sensors, Shrapnel only lived up to his namesake off-screen (even though Gotham has found its way around such sensors to show severed heads.) To truly live up to its name and follow through with the threat, some of the film’s characters would need to fail; probably the disposable, minor ones, like El Diablo and Slipknot.
4. It’s All In The Title
The blog, Spider-Man Crawlspace, posted a series on Sony’s recently hacked emails. In regards to the planned Sinister Six movie, which was set to compete with Suicide Squad, as both are teams of villains, some countries were apprehensive about advertising a movie with the word “Sinister” in it. “Sinister has a very dark and disturbing meaning, akin to a horror movie. Also, kids would not understand it,” said representatives from Italy (https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/75994). If they were opposed to “Sinister,” wait ’til they get a load of this movie.
3. The Joker
Like I said, there have been many cases where comics have crossed the line over into darker territory. Most of those cases have involved The Joker. Whether it was beating Jason Todd to death with a crowbar, or kidnapping a bunch of babies to blow them up, he’s a villain with no boundaries.
There’s one thing he won’t do, though, and that’s working with Nazis. In the Batman/Captain America crossover, the title heroes joined forces because their nemeses did. But when Joker found out Red Skull was a follower of Adolf Hitler, he freaked out; he may be a criminal, but he was still an American.
From Heath Ledger to Jack Nicholson, people have loved most every Joker on screen. Hell, even the animated Mark Hamil is beloved. On Gotham, there’s a character named Jerome. But during the first season, there was talk of Joker red herons. So, even though Cameron Monaghan does a pretty legit job, he may not be the character we think he is.
Thirty Seconds to Mars front man, Jared Leto, was chosen for the Joker of the DCEU, or DC Extended Universe. When he was announced for Suicide Squad, there was speculation he was the antagonist of the film, for he was never a member in the comics. In the animated feature, Batman: Assault on Arkham, the title character joined forces with his otherwise antagonists to take on The Joker. The new speculation is that Joker’s role will serve as flashbacks of Harley Quinn’s origin, as will Ben Affleck’s Batman. The lucky ones who’ve already seen the movie say that Leto’s Joker is the perfect blend of sinister, comedy, and laughter, and may very well be the truest representation, yet.
2. Maintain The Grittiness Of The DCEU
I expressed before that I was never a fan of Superman until Man of Steel. I couldn’t understand the appeal of a character that was practically invincible, but would crumble within reach of a made-up rock. Man of Steel showed me that Superman really wasn’t invincible, and didn’t need that rock to prove so. His battle with General Zod, tearing through Metropolis, weeded out anyone who needed a smiling face to enjoy a superhero flick. The follow-up, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, looks to continue the grit, as we all know, the Dark Knight will add to that. Granted, both showcase heroes with moral sets to some degree, and sit at PG-13. With no morals, the same amount of grit applied to villains can get a little crazier.
1. Compete With DEADPOOL
When Mario Lopez argued that Deadpool should be PG-13 so that it could better appeal to kids, Ryan Reynolds, in costume, knocked him off his chair. Shortly thereafter, fans rejoiced when they heard the X-Men spin-off was indeed rated R. Suicide Squad won’t be released until six months later, but DC needs a placeholder in the Restricted bracket for Marvel to compete with, and keep them on their toes. Hopefully, Deadpool can prove to DC that superhero movies can be made with such a rating and still be successful.
Do you hope to see SUICIDE SQUAD get an R-rating? Let us know in the comment section below!