The Suicide Squad Trivia | 100 facts about the new DCEU film

“The Suicide Squad” is a new superhero film and the tenth film in the DCEU. It is, also, a standalone sequel to “Suicide Squad” (2016).

So let’s dive some trivia and facts abou the new film.

The Suicide Squad is a 2021 American superhero film
It is based on the DC Comics team Suicide Squad
Produced by DC Films, Atlas Entertainment, and The Safran Company
The film is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
It is a standalone sequel to Suicide Squad (2016) and the tenth film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU)
It was written and directed by James Gunn
In the film stars an ensemble cast including Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, and Peter Capaldi
In the film, a task force of convicts are sent to destroy a Nazi-era laboratory and encounter the giant alien Starro
David Ayer was set to return as director for a Suicide Squad sequel by March 2016
But in December he chose to develop a Gotham City Sirens film instead
Warner Bros. considered several replacement directors before hiring Gavin O’Connor in September 2017
He left by October 2018, and Gunn was hired to write and direct the film after being temporarily fired by Disney and Marvel Studios as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
He drew inspiration from war films and John Ostrander’s 1980s Suicide Squad comics
It was decided to explore new characters in a story separate from the first film’s narrative, though some cast members do return from Suicide Squad
Filming began in Atlanta, Georgia, in September 2019
Filming concluded in Panama in February 2020
The Suicide Squad was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2021
And in the United States on August 5, while streaming on HBO Max for a month starting the same day
It received positive reviews from critics
Most critics praised Gunn’s direction, the visual style, and irreverent humor
Many finding it to be a significant improvement over its predecessor
“Peacemaker”, a spin-off television series starring Cena, is set to debut on HBO Max in January 2022
A sequel to Suicide Squad (2016) was expected in March 2016, before the first film’s release that August
With director David Ayer and star Will Smith expected to return for a 2017 filming start after completing their work on Bright (2017)
The following month, Ayer said the first film was rated PG-13 because it had originally been envisioned that way by the studio, and an R-rating needs to be planned from the start of a production
He said that it would be worth “lobbying” to make a sequel R-rated, as he felt the first film had the “edge” and “attitude” of an R-rated film already
Suicide Squad was released to a polarizing response and was reported to have a difficult production
The film grossed enough for Warner Bros. Pictures to fast-track development of a sequel
In December, several spin-off films were also in development, including one featuring Smith as Deadshot
The project that was furthest along was Gotham City Sirens, with Margot Robbie planned to star as Harley Quinn
At that time, Ayer was set to direct and produce that film
Warner Bros. began searching for a new director for Suicide Squad 2, and were courting Mel Gibson by mid-February 2017
Ruben Fleischer, Daniel Espinosa, Jonathan Levine, and David S. Goyer were also considered
Adam Cozad entered negotiations to write the film a month later, at which point there was still no director attached to the project
It was described as being a priority for Warner Bros.
Script delays led to the planned filming start being pushed to mid-2018, at which point Gibson moved on from the project
Jaume Collet-Serra became the new frontrunner to direct in early July
By which time Zak Penn had pitched a new story treatment for the film to Warner Bros.
Both Smith and Robbie were set to reprise their roles
Penn wrote a draft of a new screenplay for the film as a favor to the studio
Later in July, Collet-Serra was hired to direct Disney’s Jungle Cruise (2021) and withdrew from directing Suicide Squad 2 after deciding he would rather originate a new story than continue an existing franchise
In August, Jared Leto was expected to reprise his role as the Joker from the first film
While production was not expected to begin until Smith completed his work on Aladdin (2019) and Gemini Man (2019) in late 2018
The next month, Gavin O’Connor was chosen to direct the film and co-write it with his writing partner Anthony Tambakis, based on his own vision
The character Black Adam was reportedly the main villain of O’Connor’s script, with Dwayne Johnson already attached to that role for DC Films
Michael De Luca joined the film as a producer in January 2018, working with the first film’s producer Charles Roven
David Bar Katz and Todd Stashwick were co-writing the film with O’Connor in June
They had completed their draft by that September
By early October, O’Connor left the film to focus on The Way Back (2020)
This was reportedly out of frustration that Warner Bros. was already moving ahead with Birds of Prey (2020), a new Harley Quinn spin-off with a very similar story to the one he wrote for Suicide Squad 2
By then, Joe Manganiello had been attached to four or five planned versions of the film, with his Justice League (2017) character Deathstroke fighting Deadshot, but this did not eventuate
In October 2018, James Gunn was hired to write and possibly direct the next Suicide Squad film
His deal with Warner Bros. closed following the completion of his exit settlement with The Walt Disney Company, after he was dismissed by Disney and Marvel Studios as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) in July 2018 when conservative commentators began circulating old controversial tweets he had made
Warner Bros. had been interested in recruiting Gunn for the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) immediately after his dismissal by Disney, and asked him to make a new Superman film
Gunn was uncertain if he wanted to take on Superman, so Warner Bros. told him that he could adapt any DC property he liked
He chose to make a Suicide Squad film, recalling that it was the one DC property he dreamed of adapting and had been jealous when Ayer’s Suicide Squad film performed well
Ayer supported Gunn’s hiring as a “brave and smart move” and called him “the right man for the job”
Dave Bautista, who starred in the Guardians of the Galaxy films for Gunn, expressed interest in appearing in his Suicide Squad film
The day after he was hired by Warner Bros., Disney decided to reinstate Gunn as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
He discussed his new DCEU commitment with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who encouraged him to “make a great movie” and agreed to delay production on Guardians until Gunn had completed work on the Suicide Squad sequel
In January 2019, the film was officially titled The Suicide Squad and was scheduled for release on August 6, 2021
The title was suggested by Gunn as a joke, but executives at Warner Bros. liked it
At that time, Gunn was in negotiations to direct the film, which was described as a relaunch rather than a direct sequel that would take the franchise in a new direction and feature a largely new cast
Roven and Peter Safran were set as producers, with Zack Snyder and Deborah Snyder as executive producers
Safran had pushed for Gunn to take on the project, feeling that there was no better director than him to “bring together a disparate group of outsiders on a mission”
Principal photography began on September 20, 2019, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Atlanta, Georgia
Henry Braham served as cinematographer, after previously doing so for Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Production designer Beth Mickle said Gunn wanted the film to be “grey and drab and monotone” until the characters arrive in Corto Maltese, which he wanted to “explode with color” like Panama and Havana
Mickle took specific inspiration for the island’s color palette from Colón, Panama
Feige and Marvel Studios co-president Louis D’Esposito visited the set during filming
Gunn took several precautions to try avoid details about the film leaking, such as referring to Elba’s character in the script and on set as “Vigilante” to prevent his actual role from being revealed
And also not giving some of the actors script pages from after their character’s deaths
Gunn said the film featured the biggest sets ever built for a Warner Bros.’ film
With Mickle building a set the size of three football fields for the outside of Jotunheim where the final battle was filmed
A “warehouse-sized jungle” set was also built, featuring a bamboo cage that was 8 feet deep
Gunn also said the film used more practical effects than any other blockbuster comic book film, with on-set special effects provided by Dan Sudick and prosthetics created by Legacy Effects
Gunn highlighted a shot in the film where King Shark, who is created with visual effects, rips a person in half, which was done practically using special effects and prosthetics
Stunt supervisor Guy Norris served as second unit director for one scene in the film
Gunn explained that he rarely uses second unit directors on his films and has never liked working with them, but he enjoyed the experience of working with Norris
Filming in Atlanta was expected to last three months before moving to Panama for a month
Filming wrapped on February 28, 2020
In May 2020, John Murphy was set as the composer for the film
Tyler Bates, who scored all of Gunn’s previous films, was originally attached to compose the score for The Suicide Squad but eventually left the project
During pre-production, Bates wrote music for Gunn to use on set as he had previously done for Gunn on the Guardians of the Galaxy films
The single “Rain” by grandson and Jessie Reyez from the film’s soundtrack album was released on June 22, 2021, with the artists also expected to contribute songs individually to the album
A single from Murphy’s score, “So This Is The Famous Suicide Squad”, was made available on July 8
In the United States and Canada, The Suicide Squad is projected to gross around $30 million from 4,000 theaters in its opening weekend
With some industry insiders estimating it could reach $40 million
It made $4.1 million from Thursday night previews, the biggest total for an R-rated film during the pandemic and slightly topping Birds of Prey’s $4 million
The week prior to its domestic release, the film made $6.7 million from five countries
Including $4.7 million in the United Kingdom and $1.6 million in France
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 92% rating
Based on 242 reviews
With an average rating of 7.6/10
The site’s critics consensus reads, “Enlivened by writer-director James Gunn’s singularly skewed vision, The Suicide Squad marks a funny, fast-paced rebound that plays to the source material’s violent, anarchic strengths”
On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100
Based on 49 critics
Indicating “generally favorable reviews”
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B+” on an A+ to F scale
This is the same score as the first film