The Suicide Squad first appeared in the Brave and the Bold #25 (Aug-Sept 1959), and the current version in Suicide Squad Vol. 4 #1 (Nov. 2011). They were officially known as Task Force X and based in the notorious Belle Reve Penitentiary, surrounded by swampland. Amanda Waller put the group together to perform highly dangerous Black Ops missions. Each member had a nanite bomb injected into his or her neck in case they decided to go rogue. They were highly expendable. Membership changed over the years, but the core consisted of Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Black Spider, El Diablo, and Voltaic. Even their psychiatrist, James Gordon Jr., was a psychopath. At one point, they took on both Superman and Wonder Woman.
In the 2016 movie, the group is formed as a response to Superman’s death. Intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) talks the U.S. Government into creating Task Force X to combat metahuman threats in the absence of the number one metahuman. Archaeologist June Moone (Carla Delevinge) becomes possessed by a demonic witch, The Enchantress. Waller can control her somewhat because she has possession of her heart. Waller subordinate Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) is in love with Moone, but the Enchantress betrays him, transforms humans into monsters, and summons her giant brother Incubus (Alain Chanoine) to help destroy the human race.
The Suicide Squad is created particularly to stop Enchantress. They include marksman Deadshot (Will Smith), very bad girl Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), who is the Joker’s girlfriend and walks away with the movie, Australian thief Captain Boomerang (Jai Courteney), pyrokinetic El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), reptilian mutant cannibal Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and mercenary Slipknot (Adam Beach), who can climb anything. With them is martial-arts swordswoman Katana (Karen Fukuhara) who is Rick Flag’s bodyguard. The group is nothing if not diverse.
In Midway City, their helicopter is shot down and they travel on foot. Boomerang convinces Slipknot to escape, but Flag kills him. They discover that Waller is their target as the powers that be want the facts of the Enchantress case covered up. The Joker (Jared Leto) arranges for Harley Quinn’s internal bomb to be disabled and helps her escape. Their helicopter is shot down and she thinks he is dead. Deadshot learns of Flag’s relationship with Moone and they abandon him. He rejoins them and they decide to save the world. What the hell.
They confront Enchantress in a flooded subway station and El Diablo sacrifices himself to capture her. They cut out Enchantress’ heart and Flag crushes it, freeing Moone. The Joker rescues Harley from prison. Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne appears in a mid-credits scene, gathering intel on metahumans to be recruited for the Justice League and telling Weller to shut down Task Force X. Ezra Miller as The Flash also appears.
The film was written and directed by David Ayer and produced by Charles Roven and Richard Suckle. A panel of the ensemble cast appeared at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. It made some serious money but was called a failure because it only had the top spot in the box-office for four weeks. Reviews were favorable toward the actors but less so toward the plot. But it was praised as quirky, subversive, and nihilistic. It became the first DC extended universe film to receive an Academy Award, for makeup. Jared Leto practiced his laugh until he got the most uncomfortable one possible, and he never went out of character between shots. He sent Margot Robbie a live rat and she kept it. The entire cast, in fact, received bizarre gifts from him until they began to wonder if he was actually insane. Will Smith shaved his head and trained with Navy SEALS and Army Rangers. Director David Ayer compared the entire movie to The Dirty Dozen.
He had to apologize for objectifying Harley Quinn. She received death threats for acting the part. I have not heard if the director received death threats as well. Yes, the tiny little outfit is hardly appropriate for battle—it was inspired by Debbie Harry of Blondie--and we all know why she’s dressed that way. But there was clearly a lot of satire in her performance, and I love to see anyone taking the Mickey out of anything human, including sex. I’m seriously impressed that Margot Robbie could play Tarzan’s Jane Clayton, Harley Quinn, and Tonya Harding in the same two-year period. She trained in gymnastics, boxing, weapons training, aerial silk ballet, and holding her breath underwater for five minutes. She qualified as a circus trapeze artist at the age of eight. She did all her own stunts. The DC movie was a lot better than I expected it to be, as a Marvel fan, and I’m not sure why some people thought it was such a failure.