How The Suicide Squad Kills The David Ayer Era

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2021's The Suicide Squad reshapes the franchise's future, and in doing so it effectively kills off the David Ayer era. Before there was The Suicide Squad, there was just Suicide Squad, and the differences between the two movies run much deeper than a simple article addition. James Gunn's movie very much aims to stand alone, but in both doing that and the threads it does continue from the 2016 movie, it highlights just how much has changed.

Suicide Squad seemed like it should have been a major hit for Warner Bros. back in 2016, with the baseball bat-wielding Harley Quinn and the ragtag team of misfits around her ready to hit a home run. Setup as a villainous take on Guardians of the Galaxy, Suicide Squad electrified fans with its first trailer, but never got any better than that. A casualty of studio interference, Suicide Squad should have kickstarted its own unique corner of the DCEU, but instead five years later it's getting a quasi-reboot.

RELATED: Every DC Easter Egg, Secret & Reference In The Suicide Squad

Gunn's film delivers on the promise of the original movie. That is, a delightfully violent, funny, and weird team-up, with The Suicide Squad's roster of characters less a who's who of beloved names and more a "who's who?" of DC oddballs. As shown by The Suicide Squad's positive reviews, it's a hit with critics while containing plenty of crowd-pleasing moments at the same time. The movie may have little relation to Ayer's (or at least, the movie released under his name), but its quality and how it sets up the future does have ramifications for it.

Most 2016 Suicide Squad Characters Die Or Don't Return

Only four characters from Suicide Squad return for The Suicide Squad: Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney). That itself is pretty telling of how James Gunn is taking things in a completely different direction. Ayer's movie left a lot of people alive (a fact that was among the many criticisms of the film), and yet there's no room the majority of 2016's characters in The Suicide Squad. Aside from the fact the team has already been created and a some brief character moments, there's little evidence those other members of Task Force X ever existed.

In terms of those who do return, most serve a distinct purpose. Waller is in charge of Task Force X, so she has to be back. Likewise, Flag is the team's leader, so again it makes sense for him to return, but even he is killed off in order to service not only the story, but likely the futures of new characters (with John Cena's Peacemaker and Idris Elba's Bloodsport both established as replacements). Boomerang is brought back perhaps in part because Courtney's performance was one of the main bright spots in the original, but he's also there to provide a big death in The Suicide Squad's opening mission alongside the lesser-known, new characters. Harley has a major role in things, but her character has changed a lot in the journey from Suicide Squad to The Suicide Squad, with the 2021 movie instead continuing her growth from Birds of Prey (And the Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). The Joker, who defined Harley's story in the original, isn't even mentioned by name here, but instead referred to simply as Harley's ex, and it's made clear just how toxic he was, and how much Harley has moved on. And much like her, The Suicide Squad has moved on too.

Suicide Squad's Future Looks Entirely Different Now

WB initially seemed to be betting big on Suicide Squad. Not only was it supposed to show a different side of what DCEU movies could be, one removed from the vision of Zack Snyder that proved so divisive with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but it also had the potential for a lot of spinoffs and sequels. With most of Task Force X still in place, and Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) turning up in Suicide Squad's post-credits scene to help out Waller in exchange for information, then was plenty of room for a direct sequel, had things gone according to plan. Beyond that, there was also talk of not only a solo movie for Jared Leto's Joker, but another spinoff centered on him and Harley Quinn. In addition, there were plans for a Deadshot solo movie, and for an Ayer-directed Gotham City Sirens film.

RELATED: All 15 DC TV Shows Releasing After The Suicide Squad

Much of that future had already started to change, with no developments on any of them in years (unless to shelve them completely), and Birds of Prey further signalled a shift away from Suicide Squad. That's something The Suicide Squad continues, because it very clearly defines the future of this DCEU franchise. There's little room for the Task Force X on display to continue here, with the remaining characters getting their freedom, but that itself is telling: Waller's control is challenged and she loses some of her power, so while a Suicide Squad 3 remains very possible, it'll likely be even further removed from 2016's movie. Aside from that, there's direct setup the Peacemaker TV show, which will star Cena and has been written and directed by Gunn.

Looking beyond even that, then it remains likely that Harley Quinn will return in some form, whether that's a solo movie, Birds of Prey 2, both, or something else. She's now free of Waller's grip once again, which further hammers home that there's no one from the first movie left in terms of Task Force X. Meanwhile, it'd be a major surprise if characters such as Bloodsport and Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) weren't seen again. Gunn has teased more The Suicide Squad spinoffs, but any upcoming movie or show will be continuing on the character arcs and stories of the 2021 movie, not the 2016 one. With all of its characters dead, missing with no hope of a return, or radically changed, then there's no discernible future for any of its elements.

Should The Suicide Squad Have Had More 2016 Elements?

Since the first Suicide Squad was a critical failure (although it performed reasonably well at the box office), and with James Gunn being brought in to write and direct the follow-up, then it's understandable why it goes in such a different direction. Gunn is a filmmaker who very much has his own creative vision, and while there may have been some studio mandates (it's hard to imagine WB would've accepted Harley Quinn not being in the movie), it's clear he was allowed to do pretty much as he pleased. But at the same time, this is not a total reboot, because it does carry over some characters from the 2016 movie, and with certain relationships brought with it (Harley's friendship with Boomer, and Flag's loyalty to Harley as examples), then there is a question of whether it should've included more.

At the same time, it's hard to see what else from the original movie The Suicide Squad could have included. Deadshot, another of the better parts of Suicide Squad, is the obvious missing element, but Will Smith wasn't available, which meant that any discussion over including him was relatively short-lived. The other characters from Task Force X weren't particularly memorable, and Gunn went deep into DC Comics' roster to find new characters to use, showing how much he wanted to stick to his own plans and influences, with many of them (Ratcatcher 2 and David Dastmalchian's Polka-Dot Man as prime examples) perfectly fitting his sensibilities for turning unknown, outcast characters into the heart of a movie. Similarly, coming after Birds of Prey there was no scope for a Joker return, with Gunn staying true to her growth. The Suicide Squad is very much the movie that 2016's failed to be, so it's hard to argue for it being more in line with that film.

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