Last month, aprequel comicfor the highly-anticipatedSuicide Squadwas released, which shed some new light on the relationship between the iconic villains The Joker (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). While we certainly knew that they were a couple long before this comic’s release, it delved deeper into their romance. As it turns out, that courtship plays a huge part in The Joker’s “master plan” of theSuicide Squadmovie.
Entertainment Weeklydebuted new cover images from this week’s print issue, which feature various members ofTask Force X. The site also unveiled new photos, which give us our first look atCommonand confirm that he’s playing a character known as Monster T. The site reveals that Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) initial plan for these villains doesn’t get the green light from the government, until a mysterious villain threatens Midway City. These criminals are told to obey orders or they’ll die, thanks to explosive devices placed into their necks by none other than Bruce Wayne’s (Ben Affleck) Wayne Industries. Here’s an excerpt from the site about how The Joker fits into all of this.
“Throwing a wrench into all these plans is the tatted Gotham City arch-criminal, The Joker (Jared Leto), and his laser-like plan to reunite with his true love, Harley, mission be damned.”
There have previously been reports about whereSuicide Squadtakes place in the DCEU timeline, but this new report confirms that the story takes place after the events ofBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with the government trying to figure out “how to respond” the next time an alien like Superman visits earth. This report also reveals that both Rick Flagg and Katana are in charge of the explosive devices place in the Task Force X members, and that June Moore a.k.a. The Enchantress, is the first person that Amanda Waller seeks out for thisSuicide Squad. Each of these characters are said to be grappling with their past, and whether or not they can be redeemed.
While we have seen bits and pieces ofThe Jokerin the past, we’ve usually seen him on his own, apart from the otherSuicide Squadmembers. There have been rumors that The Joker spends most of his time in the movie locked up in a jail cell, but we have already seen footage from the set and the trailers that show The Joker and Harley Quinn riding around town in a fancy sports car, with Batman riding on the roof. EW also spoke with writer-directorDavid Ayer, who talks about how this movie went from a little-known property to a massively-hyped summer movie.
“Two years agoSuicide Squadwas a tertiary [DC property]. No one knew anything about it. It was a cool little playground, and I was going to go make my movie. Now it’s like the hype bus. All of the attention has swung onto it, and it has to carry a lot more weight than it was ever intended to. I think it can sustain it. But it’s a lot of pressure. You definitely feel the pressure.”
While nothing has been confirmed yet,David Ayerhas been rumored to come back to the helm forSuicide Squad 2, which Warner Bros. wants to shoot in early 2017. Naturally, that news likely won’t be confirmed untilSuicide Squadhits theaters on August 5, and only if it becomes a big hit at the box office. While we wait for more details, take a look at the EW magazine covers along with the new photos below.
