Well… Isn’t this interesting…
This weekend at San Diego Comic Con, Warner Bros revealed the first trailer for their upcoming DC villain movie SUICIDE SQUAD. The footage seemed to rock the entire convention in all the ways possible. It was definitely one of the more talked about trailers this weekend. (Besides that sweet BATMAN V SUPERMAN trailer. Holy snapples that trailer looks so good! It’s BATMAN fighting SUPERMAN!!) So, why didn’t DC dominate this weekend at comic con? With all the impressive content that DC released, why do people feel that they dropped the huge ball Marvel handed to them by not having a stronger cinematic presence at the convention? Why so serious, SDCC?
It doesn’t really bare repeating that DC is desperately trying to establish a shared universe in the same way that Marvel is doing with their movies. Their universe seems to start with the cinematic clash of BATMAN V SUPERMAN. Amanda Waller even suggests that all of their world’s weirdos and wackadoos are crawling out of the shadows at the arrival of Superman (It’s sort of a play on the idea that Batman was actually the one responsible for the eccentric theatrics of all his rogues). What follows is a trailer full of some familiar (and unfamiliar) villains striking classic ‘bad guy’ poses all over the place. We got Harley Quinn dangling from the top of her cell by her sheets. We got Killer Croc getting wheeled in on a handcart. We got Deadshot propelling down the side of a building. Batman chasing down the Joker and Harley Quinn while riding on the top of their car. Will Smith. A guy in an eyeball mask shooting up a lab. A teddy bear with a machine gun. Everything in this trailer seems to check out… right? It all looks good on paper, right up until the appearance of Jared Leto’s Joker. This is where the great SUICIDE SQUAD debate turns nerd against nerd.
I feel like I should mention the reason why Warner Bros is saying that they released this trailer was because of their inability to contain all the pirated copies floating around the internet from San Diego. Personally, I think it’s because they heard some of the negative feedback the trailer was receiving and needed to collect more accurate feedback. And what negative feedback is that? Well, people seem to be a little disappointed by the serious tone being portrayed in their movies. They seem to embody this outdated idea that comic book movies need to be dark and ‘grown up’ if they are to be taken seriously. A lesson that Marvel has continually proved to be incorrect. Maybe the tone of their films is the result of Marvel painting them into a particular corner? Regardless, in an age where more people are turning out to see comic book movies, DC seems to be lacking the proper formula that gains widespread nerd acceptance. I want to be excited about this movie and I was when I first heard about it… but, I’m not sold on it just yet. Then there’s the matter of Jared Leto’s Joker…
I’m not going to get too deep into this because I don’t hate this new interpretation of the Joker. We’ve already had four completely different versions of the Joker all ready. Romero, Hamill, Ledger and Nicholson. Do you want the same thing that’s already happened? I don’t understand what people want… If it was too similar to Ledger, people would burn Warner Bros to the ground as Ledger already perfected the role. I respect their decision to make the Joker into some sort of gangland psychopath. At least it’s original. We already know he’s got the skills to kill a Robin in this universe… Plus, I do like his laugh.
SUICIDE SQUAD hits theaters on August 5th, 2016
And check out Mike McG’s reactions to our first look at SUICIDE SQUAD below courtesy of MikeMcGTV!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGk9-8yQtM4
