Suicide Squad

Honestly, when I heard they were making a Suicide Squad, it was probably the movie in the DC line up that I was the least excited for. Check out this link for my post on the DC Line up.

Frankly, the people in the Suicide Squad are not that interesting to me. The only one I'm really looking forward to was finally seeing a version of Harley Quinn. That seems kind of cool to me, although not incredibly important. She could have shown up as the villain, or side villain in a future DC product. They don't need to put her with other villains that I've honestly never heard of like Captain Boomerang, The Enchantress, and Rick Flag, in a villain team up movie that is just trying to draw attention away from The Sinister 6, a film I was never excited about at all.

Even the names that were rumored to be involved with the film didn't excited me that much. And it just didn't seem realistic. Margot Robbie I get, but then there were rumors of Tom Hardy, Will Smith, even Oprah's name got dropped for the team's leader. All these names just seemed too high profile, especially for a movie like this.

And then another rumor dropped. Jared Leto as the Joker...

Again, I was pretty skeptical.

I wasn't quite sure it was time to bring back the Joker, and even if they did, would Jared Leto do it? He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would do a comic book movie. The guy is more into independent and high caliber film, he picks and chooses what he does and it doesn't seem like its easy to get him into a project.

All that being said, if Jared Leto was to be the Joker, I would be a little bit more interested in the Suicide Squad then I was before. But it still doesn't negate the fact that the film still seems a little too good to be true. I mean Will Smith, Jared Leto, AND Tom Hardy? There's no way.

Well... apparently there is.

It was confirmed today (or yesterday?) that the cast of Suicide Squad is now confirmed and most of the rumors that were going around about people in the film are totally true and confirmed. This is one of the first times this has actually been the case. Usually with superhero films, a lot of rumors come out saying these people are being looked at, these people are in talks. But they always seem false. That's why the cast for this movie seemed so far fetched and would most likely end up in me being disappointed when the rumors ended up being debunked. But for some reason not this one.

The Suicide Squad has been announced. I've been checking almost everything and every source says it is confirmed now. The Squad will make up of...

Jared Leto - The Joker

Margot Robbie - Harley Quinn

Will Smith - Deadshot

Tom Hardy - Rick Flag

Jai Courtney - Captain Boomerang

Cara Delevingne - The Enchantress

There was also talk of Aiden Gillen playing Deathstroke, but there's also talks of Oprah Winfrey in it, so I'm still skeptical. 

But holy shit!

That is a stacked cast! Suddenly a movie that I saw as more of a filler until the Wonder Woman film I'm personally looking forward to probably the most, has become a very, very interesting movie. 

But let's take a step back first and talk about one more thing before we talk about the movie as a whole. 

They're actually bringing back the Joker.

It's been 6 years since The Dark Knight, and in my opinion, the best performance of The Joker by

the late Heath Ledger, a role that won him an Oscar post-humous. By the time the movie comes out it will be 8 years.

This is a bold move.

Its not as though Leto taking the role is going to tarnish the performance of Ledger, if he sucks I can always just go back to The Dark Knight and enjoy that performance, that's not what I'm interested in.

Its just the fact that if it weren't the Joker, 8 years would not be nearly enough time. 8 years isn't nearly enough time to really let the role resinate and jumping so quickly to another person playing it, I feel would be a little disrespectful. Here's my example. Take Ledger out of this situation. Say its the same scenario with Tom Hardy playing Bane. Say he gives a Ledger quality role as Bane, and then tragically dies. It would be in bad taste to have someone play Bane this close to that role. The difference comes with the character of the Joker.

The Joker is the most iconic Batman villain, no probably the most iconic villain in all of the DC comics. If DC is going to create this new cinematic universe, this universe needs to have The Joker, and it needs to have one that defines the new universe and the villains that are coming forth.

And this is actually where things get really, really interesting. Putting the Joker in, to me, means that DC is actually ready to starting playing this game with Marvel.

Are they even close yet? Not at all. But they're ready to make up some ground, and from what it seems, have a set path to make up that ground efficiently and in a great way.

The Joker signifies the one element that DC secretly has over Marvel, at least in the cinematic universe so far, and that is their villains.

Do an exercise with me. Its one I'm sure you've heard before, but go along with me, just for this. Tell me a phenomenal villain from the Marvel franchise so far. One that has had a diabolical plan, one that you found compelling, fascinating, and just well done? First villain that comes to your head when you think of an adversary that has taken on the best of the best of the Avengers?

If you said Loki, you're correct... Loki is a really well done villain. One that has evolved and continues to be a thorn in the side of Thor and the other Avengers. Tom Hiddleston rocked it in Thor, Thor 2, and the Avengers. He deserves the credit people give him.

Who's another?

The Elf guy from Thor 2? The Red Skull? (Maybe?) Jeff Bridges? That guy from Guardians of the Galaxy?

Now if you're thinking Thanos, stop it. Thanos has been in two movies. All we've seen him do is turn his head and sit on a chair. He doesn't count yet.

Now same question but for what could potentially be done in the DC universe?

The Joker, Lex Luthor, Doomsday, Brainiac, Sinestro... done right... A butt load of Batman villains too numerous to count. Zod, in my opinion, was a great way to start this universe out, there's so much more they can do.

And that's just the well known ones.

And that's where Suicide Squad suddenly becomes a very interesting choice for DC to go down. The Justice League has not been established yet. By the time this movie comes out, we'll see Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg. And then you introduce a whole mess of villains? THAT SOUNDS AMAZING!

While DC is going to be rolling out an all-star line up to protect the world, they're also lining up an all-star cast of villains to make the need for these heroes even greater than before.

And that gets me to the movie as a whole and the casting news.

Of course Jared Leto being cast as the Joker is fascinating, but mainly in the sense that someone else has taken up the mantle as the Joker. I know Leto more by reputation rather than as an actor. I know he's been in some great movies, I'm going to be watching Dallas Buyer's Club soon as part of my McConaissance experience, a movie Leto won an Oscar for, but honestly, the only thing I know Leto from, well, is that angsty band he's in 30 Seconds to Mar. The guy is talented, but I don't think I've really seen that talent personally, more on what other people have told me.

Margot Robbie interests me in a similar way. She is picking up a role that ahs never been done and is a very beloved character. But she looks good for the role so I'm not complaining at all.

The role that really gets me though, is Will Smith as Deadshot.

Honestly, casting when I first heard it, really made me believe that this casting for Suicide Squad was all rumor and no real facts. This just seems strange to me. I don't know Deadshot that well, I'm not really familiar with his backstory. Its more the fact that Will Smith is in a movie like Suicide Squad.

I'm actually surprised that Smith hasn't been in his own comic book movie yet. I saw Hancock. While I'm not wild about it, I found it entertaining at the very least, and it got me excited for Will Smith in some kind of superhero role. I just didn't expect it to be someone like Deadshot.

I really hope he makes the role awesome and I commend DC for getting Smith before Marvel had the chance to. But again, I just don't really know if Deadshot is the role Smith was meant to play when it comes to superhero films. I really hope I'm wrong, I just don't see it.

The other role worth mentioning is Tom Hardy as Rick Flag...

I don't know who Rick Flag is... I looked him up on Wikipedia and I still don't know who Rick Flag is. His name sounds boring, he looks boring... God I hope he isn't boring.

Tom Hardy is an actor who I've seen do great things, but I just don't feel like I've seen him in anything at all. People say he's a great actor, I see him as the guy who did a decent job playing Bane, played a forgettable character in Inception, and a person I thought was going to play Apocalypse in the new X-men movies for a long time. However, I do think tom Hardy could do something a little bigger than a guy who looks and sounds as boring as Rick Flag...

And that's the part that makes me interested and incredibly cautious of the Suicide Squad.

On one hand, you've got the opportunity to create some of the most in depth and well thought out villains to set up for future movies. We can watch this film being hopefully with the feeling of, I can't wait till I see the Joker in future movies creating havoc for the Justice League. Or for Harley Quinn to return and do some damage.

But then you have people like Rick Flag and Captain Boomerang... what the hell?

Now I'm sure they wouldn't case these big name actors in parts like this if they didn't think they could rock the part, and if they wouldn't be marketable in the future. Does Rick Flag seem boring? Yes. Could he end up being awesome the way Bradley Cooper made Rocket Raccoon awesome? Absolutely. And that's why I'm so very excited for Suicide Squad.

The film has a real opportunity to capitalize on the villains of DC, really flesh them out, and make them all the more sinister and awesome in future films.

Suddenly Suicide Squad jumps into a movie that could be a game changer for DC, and I am more than excited.

I still can't believe we have to wait till 2016 to see this cinematic universe come to life. The only thing I can say is that if I am waiting this long to see Batman v Superman, and then even longer to really see this universe actually come to life (an approach I have always vouched for), it had better damn well pay off. Audiences had better come into Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, down the road Wonder Woman, and be satisfied as hell when they come out. Something I have high hopes for. But I'm going to say something I've said multiple times. Zack Snyder and everyone at Warner Brothers, you have gotten me excited. You're supposedly going to keep me excited for another year before I see movies I am really, really excited for... All I have to say is...

And those are my thoughts on the new casting news for Suicide Squad. What do you think? Do you think Jared Leto is a good choice for the Joker? Do you think Deadshot is a good role for Will Smith? Comment and Discuss below!

I'll leave you with this. Since the only thing I know Leto from is his band 30 Seconds to Mars, I'm going to show the first music video I saw from them. This shit is old, its angsty, but it is good. Enjoy!