A classic Suicide Squad comic cover is recreated using the cast of The Suicide Squad for a cover of Empire Magazine designed by DC's Jim Lee. Warner Bros. and DC Films tried to make Task Force X the stars of a massive franchise in 2016, and while Suicide Squad was a financial hit, the overall reception to the movie was quite poor. This put the series on the backburner until James Gunn decided to make The Suicide Squad.
Gunn's The Suicide Squad is described as neither a sequel to or reboot of the original movie. It does feature a few cast members from the first film, such as Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang, and Viola Davis' Amanda Waller. But, Gunn surrounded them with a group of obscure and lesser-known DC villains. This includes Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), and Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian). The Suicide Squad has quite a large cast due to Gunn's take and seemingly featuring two different Task Force X teams, and the marketing has proven just how different the 2021 summer blockbuster will be from its predecessor.
As The Suicide Squad's August release date nears, WB and DC are entering the final stages of the marketing campaign. This includes releasing a flurry of new magazine covers as The Suicide Squad's many villains take over the upcoming issue of Empire Magazine. In addition to those new covers, the legendary comic artist Jim Lee, who is also the Publisher and CCO of DC Comics, created an exclusive Empire cover for subscribers. He shared the first look on his social media, which includes a colored version of the cover, an early sketch of the design, and the inspiration from Howard Chaykin's 1987 Suicide Squad comic cover. Check them out below:
The new cover is another great addition to The Suicide Squad's marketing campaign. It is also great to see Lee taking inspiration from the classic John Ostrander comic series. Gunn has repeatedly cited this era of Task Force X as one of his main inspirations while making the movie. Ostrander even has a cameo in The Suicide Squad. There are obviously differences between the comic cover and the rendition done for The Suicide Squad, such as the characters that they include and the placement of Gunn in between the DC villains' portraits.
With just about a month to go until The Suicide Squad releases in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously, fans are sure to see much more of the film in the coming weeks. WB and DC have so far done a great job at not revealing too many spoilers, such as which characters will die and survive or share a full look at Starro. Hopefully that doesn't change in the weeks ahead and The Suicide Squad proves to be the action-packed, funny, and violent blockbuster it appears to be.
Source: Jim Lee
