It is no secret that DC is trying to create its own popular cinematic universe like Marvel with Avengers, X-men, and Spider-man films. On August 5, 2016, just five months after the Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice movie, DC will release another film based on its comic-book characters: Suicide Squad. It doesn't look like Tom Hardy will be joining the team, though.
For those unfamiliar with the source material from DC comics, Suicide Squad is a comic book about a team of super-heroes. What made Suicide Squad different from other team books is that the team was not super-heroes, but actually super-villains. These super-villains were required to go on secret missions in exchange for a reduced prison sentence.
Suicide Squad has a star-studded cast including Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Cara Delevingne, Jai Courtney, and Jared Leto playing one of DC's most iconic villains, the Joker. We have previously reported that Tom Hardy would by playing the role of Rick Flag, the team's rugged leader. According to Breathcast, this not happening as The Dark Knight Rises actor has dropped the role. In Hardy's place could be Jake Gyllenhaal. Jake has the build thanks to Southpaw, a film that the actor is recently completed. It is not certain if Gyllenhaal has time for filming as he plans to be in two films in 2015 that include both Everest and Demolition.
If Gyllenhaal doesn't take the role, other actors being considered are Joel Edgerton and Jon Bernthal. Bernthal played the character Shane in The Walking Dead, and he was in the WWII Tank drama Fury. Fury was directed by David Ayer, and Ayer is going to be directing Suicide Squad. So it would be no surprise if Bernthal worked with Ayer once again.
The all-star cast of comic book characters and A-list celebrities is only one reason why expectations are high for this superhero/supervillain team film. According to Crossmap, this movie aims to set the stage for future movies in the DC cinematic universe, including a possible standalone film for Batman staring Ben Affleck, who is set to play the Caped Crusader in 2016 with Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice.
There have been concerns that perhaps a film about villains becoming heroes in the DC Universe might be too early to consider, as DC's cinematic universe has yet to be successfully established. Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy ended with a happy ending for Batman, which leads audiences to assume that the Batman in the upcoming Dawn of Justice film is a totally different version. This would mean that only Man of Steel is within this DC cinematic universe continuity, and that film was met with mixed reviews.
In other words, Suicide Squad is not going to use Marvel's playbook for their cinematic universe as these villainous characters have not appeared in other DC films before appearing in one big film together, like Marvel's Avengers did so successfully. However, it would appear that Suicide Squad hopes to cash in on the darker, edgier characters like fan favorites Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Deadshot (Will Smith), and The Joker (Jared Leto). As we have said before, Jared Leto has some big shoes to fill with this role after the Oscar-worthy performance of the late Heath Ledger. Also making a rumored appearance in the film will be Jesse Eisenberg as the one and only Lex Luthor, fresh from appearing in the Batman and Superman film.
Whatever plan that the DC cinematic universe has, it will need to start filming the 2016 Suicide Squad film to meet the August 2016 deadline, and hopefully there will be no surprise cast changes.
