The James Gunn-helmed Suicide Squad 2 is DC's chance to finally deliver on its original promise of a worthy Suicide Squad movie. Ever since David Ayer's Suicide Squad delivered one of the most conspicuous theatrical anti-climaxes of recent years, fans have been hoping for a fitting on-screen representation of the roguish team. The 2016 movie infamously suffered from numerous behind-the-scenes issues, from reshoots to re-edits, with Ayer himself calling for a Suicide Squad directors cut to be released – à la the Justice League Snyder Cut scheduled to hit HBO Max in 2021.

When the movie was first announced, things looked promising. At the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, fans were treated to the first trailer for Suicide Squad, and it looked a lot different from the film that arrived in theaters. The trailer promised the kind of dark and gritty escapade that the source material deserved, setting up fans for a colossal let-down when the final cut arrived. Obvious interference from Warner Bros. meant that audiences were treated to a disorienting mish-mash of Marvel-inspired levity and Ayer's original gritty vision.

Related: Suicide Squad: Why Releasing Ayer's Directors Cut Is More Likely Now

Now, there's hope in the form of the James Gunn-led sequel – said to be a standalone story. Despite essentially being a do-over for Warner Bros. and DC, The Suicide Squad will see the return of several characters from the 2016 outing, including Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and Jai Courtney's Boomerang. Notably absent from The Suicide Squad is Will Smith's Deadshot, who won't be returning due to scheduling conflicts. Regardless, the upcoming sequel has a unique opportunity to make good on DC's original promise of a quality Suicide Squad movie.

Suicide Squad Originally Looked Like A Great DC Movie

Back in 2015, the first trailer for Suicide Squad launched to significant buzz among fans. The trailer promised a decidedly grim tone that seemed perfectly suited to the movie's band of unhinged anti-heroes. With the debut of Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, Will Smith's Deadshot, a Batman cameo, the promise of uniting "the most dangerous people on the planet", and the first glimpse of Jared Leto's Joker, the trailer suggested fans were in for a truly innovative and even subversive supervillain blockbuster. Coming in the wake of numerous Marvel blockbusters, with their family-friendly approach to superhero movies, and the underwhelming Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad looked to be a refreshing change of pace for DC and superhero movies in general.

Suicide Squad was also accompanied by highly-effective marketing. The first trailer was obviously a hit, but Warner kept the momentum going with social media campaigns, a striking visual style for the posters, and by using the cast to hype the film. Bizarre stories emerged from behind-the-scenes of Suicide Squad that suggested Leto had taken both his commitment to method acting and his role as Joker a little too seriously. Cast members claimed Leto sent them all-manner of disturbing gifts, with Margot Robbie receiving a live rat and Viola Davis revealing Leto had one of his "henchmen" deliver a dead pig to set as a "gift" for the cast. It was all a bit concerning, but it had fans hyped to see whether Leto's off-screen antics translated to a suitably deranged on-screen performance. The previews for Suicide Squad certainly suggested his Joker would feature heavily – as did a page from the original script leaked by Ayer himself – and that he could even be the movie's central villain. Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out that way...

Suicide Squad Failed To Deliver On Its Promise

Why Jared Leto Joker not returning Suicide Squad 2

It's never good when a film's trailer is more beloved than the movie itself, but that's exactly what happened with Suicide Squad. When it finally arrived, the film managed an impressive performance at the box office but was widely panned by critics and fans. Most pointed to the DCEU plot holes created by Suicide Squad, poorly-developed characters, and bewildering editing choices. But there was something particularly bittersweet about the film's inability to deliver on its promise of an innovative take on the increasingly trite superhero movie. It's not just that Suicide Squad was a bad film, but that it was nothing like the one DC and Warner originally marketed.

Related: Suicide Squad: Why Will Smith's Deadshot Didn't Get A Solo Movie

As more information came out following the film's release, it seems Ayer's project was doomed from the outset, with the End of Watch director given just six weeks to write the script. From there, more issues arose. Following the poor reception for Batman V Superman, Ayer's film reportedly underwent reshoots to make it a more crowd-pleasing affair at the behest of Warner BrosUnfortunately this led to the muddled tone that characterized the final cut. Ayer's typically dark aesthetic was infused with an incongruous sense of humor that simply served to undermine the gritty film he had set out to make.

What's more, after hyping up Jared Leto's take on Joker, Warner Bros.' attempts at re-editing Suicide Squad resulted in the clown prince of crime's screen time being dramatically reduced. Even more baffling was the choice to have Joker play only a tangential role, despite the apparent confidence at the studio to plan a solo Joker movie for Leto. In fact, if Joker was removed, Harley Quinn's backstory would have been even more underdeveloped than it was, but a Joker-less Suicide Squad would still have a functioning plot – poorly-paced as it may be. Why Warner Bros. decided to keep Leto's part to a minimum in the final version of the movie remains a mystery. Even Ayer himself admitted that in retrospect he should have given Joker the limelight, saying on Twitter in 2017: "Wish I had a time machine. I'd make Joker the main villain and engineer a more grounded story".

What's most unfortunate about all this is that the film could have been what the fans, and seemingly Ayer, wanted it to be. From the look of the original trailer, DC and Warner were set to deliver the "grounded story" Ayer spoke about. But it seems somewhere between the first trailer for the project and the movie's final release, the impact of Batman v Superman, and a studio generally struggling to compete with Marvel's dominance derailed Suicide Squad. Perhaps the 'Ayer cut' will see the light of day if Zack Snyder's Justice League proves successful. For now, Warner Bros. is seemingly content to let the movie's distinct forget-ability work in its favor.

Suicide Squad 2 Can Be What The Original Was Supposed To Be

What better way to pretend something never happened than follow it up with a better version that doesn't have to acknowledge the first attempt in any way. And that's just what Warner has set out to do with the "sequel" that isn't actually a sequel but still kind of is. With Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn demonstrated his ability to make a dysfunctional band of would-be heroes accessible to the public while staying true to the source material, making him a seemingly perfect fit for the squad. Luckily, everything teased thus far suggests this will be the Suicide Squad film fans have been waiting for since that 2015 teaser got everyone excited. Oh, and Leto's divisive take on the Joker is out.

Related: Every James Gunn Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

Writer of the Suicide Squad comic books Rob Williams also noted on Twitter recently that Gunn's work on Guardians is essentially the blueprint for what The Suicide Squad should be, albeit with more "villainy". Gunn recently revealed the new logo for The Suicide Squad, which takes its cues from the comic books – a move that bodes well for the movie's ability to appeal to die-hard fans. It's clear the director is sensitive to the source material, which means his movie will likely be tonally different from Guardians without losing what made that Marvel outing great. It also looks as though Gunn is readying a killer soundtrack. He revealed on Twitter that "music is an incredibly important part of ALL of [his] films" and that The Suicide Squad's sounds will be "a lot different than Guardians musically - and in so many other ways."

All of that sounds promising, but what if the director manages to craft the perfect representation of the Squad, keeping the best parts and characters from Suicide Squad and changing the worst parts, only to have Warner Bros. step in once again and ruin everything? Thankfully, Gunn has confirmed the movie will be entirely his vision. Replying to a question about studio intervention on Twitter, the director said The Suicide Squad would be "100%, zero interference, no-holds-barred ME." With studio meddling off the table, Gunn and his film-making team have a chance to deliver on DC and Warner's 2015 promise of a worthy on-screen adaptation of Suicide Squad. With DC Fandome around the corner, fans will soon get their first glimpse at Suicide Squad 2, and this time it looks as though the trailer won't be the best thing about the project.

More: Every DC Movie Releasing In 2021

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