ⓘ Details

Movie TitleThe Suicide Squad

Release DateAugust 5, 2021 in the United States / July 30, 2021 in the United Kingdom

TaglineThey’re dying to save the world.

Runtime132 minutes / 2 hours 12 minutes

DirectorJames Gunn

Screenplay Written ByJames Gunn

Based OnDC Comics characters and the Suicide Squad team concept

Is It a Remake?No. It is a standalone sequel / soft reboot follow-up to 2016’s Suicide Squad and the tenth film in the DCEU.

BudgetApproximately $185 million

Box OfficeApprox. $55.8 million domestic / approx. $168.7 million worldwide

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👥 Main Cast

Margot RobbieHarley Quinn

Idris ElbaRobert DuBois / Bloodsport

John CenaChristopher Smith / Peacemaker

Joel KinnamanRick Flag

Daniela MelchiorCleo Cazo / Ratcatcher 2

David DastmalchianAbner Krill / Polka-Dot Man

Sylvester StalloneNanaue / King Shark

Viola DavisAmanda Waller

Jai CourtneyCaptain Boomerang

Peter CapaldiThe Thinker

Michael RookerSavant

Alice BragaSol Soria

Pete DavidsonBlackguard

Nathan FillionT.D.K.

Sean GunnWeasel / Calendar Man

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🏆 Awards

⭐ Critics Choice Super Awards Winner — Best Superhero Movie

⭐ Critics Choice Super Awards Winner — Best Actress in a Superhero Movie, Margot Robbie

⭐ Critics Choice Super Awards Winner — Best Villain in a Movie, Sylvester Stallone as King Shark

⭐ Saturn Award Nominee — Best Comic-to-Film Motion Picture

⭐ Hugo Award Nominee — Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

⭐ Visual Effects Society Award Nominee — Outstanding Created Environment and effects work recognition

⭐ No Academy Award nominations were verified for the film.

⭐ The film’s real legacy is proving that a big superhero movie can be violent, weird, heartfelt, gross, funny, and still make audiences care about a walking shark and a rat army.

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📖 Short Plot Summary

Amanda Waller assembles a new Task Force X and sends a disposable crew of supervillains to the island nation of Corto Maltese. Their mission is to destroy Jötunheim, a Nazi-era prison and lab connected to Project Starfish. Naturally, because this is a Suicide Squad movie, the plan goes sideways almost immediately, the team count drops fast, and the survivors have to decide whether they are just villains following orders or something slightly less terrible. The Suicide Squad mixes comic-book carnage, war-movie absurdity, monster-movie spectacle, and a surprising amount of heart for a film where a giant starfish and a man named Polka-Dot Man both get major emotional beats.

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❝ Key Quotes

“I cherish peace with all my heart. I don’t care how many men, women, and children I need to kill to get it.” — Peacemaker

“Nom nom?” — King Shark

“I’m not joining your Suicide Squad.” — Bloodsport

“If I die because I gambled on love, it will be a worthy death.” — Harley Quinn

“Rats are the lowliest and most despised of all creatures, my love. If they have purpose, so do we all.” — Ratcatcher

“I’m a superhero!” — Polka-Dot Man

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💡 Trivia

Director

The Suicide Squad was written and directed by James Gunn.
Gunn approached the film as a standalone sequel / soft reboot rather than a direct remake of the 2016 movie.
The film allowed Gunn to use obscure DC characters like Polka-Dot Man, Ratcatcher 2, T.D.K., Weasel, Mongal, Javelin, and King Shark.
Gunn blends superhero action with war-movie structure, monster-movie chaos, and his usual affection for deeply broken weirdos.
The result is basically a DC war film where the emotional center is a woman who controls rats, which somehow works way better than it has any right to.

Cast / Casting

Margot Robbie returned as Harley Quinn after Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey.
Idris Elba plays Bloodsport. Early reporting connected him to replacing Will Smith as Deadshot, but the final character became Robert DuBois / Bloodsport.
John Cena plays Peacemaker, a role that later spun off into the HBO Max / Max series Peacemaker.
Sylvester Stallone voices King Shark, giving the movie its dumbest, sweetest, most murder-hungry big guy.
Daniela Melchior plays Ratcatcher 2, one of the film’s emotional anchors.
Viola Davis returned as Amanda Waller, who remains terrifying without needing a costume, powers, or basic workplace empathy.

Soundtrack / Score

John Murphy composed the film’s score.
The soundtrack uses a mix of score and needle-drop songs to match Gunn’s chaotic, irreverent tone.
Gunn’s music choices help separate the movie from more traditional superhero scores.
The music supports the film’s tonal whiplash: comedy, gore, tragedy, hero moments, and giant kaiju starfish panic.
The end result feels like a superhero playlist assembled by someone with great taste and questionable impulse control.

Location

The story is set largely on the fictional island nation of Corto Maltese.
Filming took place in Atlanta, Georgia and Panama.
Trilith Studios, formerly Pinewood Atlanta Studios, was used for major production work.
Panama helped provide tropical exterior locations for Corto Maltese.
The island setting gives the film a war-mission feel, like The Dirty Dozen wandered into a comic book and then stepped on a land mine.

Behind-The-Scenes

The film was produced by Charles Roven and Peter Safran.
Production companies included Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Films, Atlas Entertainment, and The Safran Company.
Warner Bros. released the film in theaters and on HBO Max during the pandemic-era day-and-date release strategy.
The reported production budget was approximately $185 million.
The film grossed about $55.8 million domestically and about $168.7 million worldwide.
The box office was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, same-day streaming availability, and audience confusion over its relationship to the 2016 film.

Nostalgia

The Suicide Squad quickly became one of the better-reviewed DCEU movies.
For a lot of fans, it was the version of the Squad concept they wanted the first time: messy villains, real stakes, actual jokes, and characters who might die at any moment.
The film helped launch Peacemaker, which expanded Gunn’s corner of DC television.
It also gave fans a Harley Quinn who felt chaotic, funny, dangerous, and oddly self-aware.
The movie is a reminder that sometimes the best comic book team is not the noble one. It is the one with a shark, a rat girl, a bloodthirsty patriot, and a guy traumatized by polka dots.

Easter Eggs

Project Starfish is tied to Starro the Conqueror, one of DC Comics’ oldest Justice League villains.
Corto Maltese is a DC Comics location that has appeared in multiple comic and screen stories.
Calendar Man appears in a cameo, played by Sean Gunn.
T.D.K. is a riff on the very obscure DC character Arm-Fall-Off-Boy.
Polka-Dot Man’s powers turn one of DC’s goofiest villain concepts into something visually strange, tragic, and oddly heroic.
The post-credit scene sets up Peacemaker’s survival and leads directly into the Peacemaker series.

Misc.

The Suicide Squad is rated R.
The movie runs 132 minutes.
The film was released in the United States on August 5, 2021 after opening in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2021.
It grossed about $168.7 million worldwide against a reported $185 million budget.
It was followed by the Peacemaker television series in 2022.
Your 3 Guys and a Flick ratings page lists The Suicide Squad as Episode 20, with Don rating it 4.00, Ken rating it 3.75, Jon rating it 4.00, and an overall rating of 3.92.

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