Suicide Squad represents the second half of this summer's one-two punch with regard to the DC Extended Universe. The film, featuring a ragtag group of villains brought together under the auspices of Amanda Waller has been garnering a lot of fan attention and interest since the first footage made its way to the audiences' eyeballs during SDCC 2015. Since then, the film has had a number of successful trailers and TV spots, and even released a handful of new posters, each one increasingly charming and attractive in its own appropriately garish, inspired-by-Ed-Hardy kind of way.
And because marketing for the movie has been ongoing since before Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice was in theaters, its fascinating to see how the film's perception of itself continues to shift as it gets closer to its theatrical release date. One of the more interesting aspects of how Warner Bros. has chosen to package Suicide Squad is to play up the unique personalities of its cast. Instead of just highlighting high-profile stars, like Will Smith, Jared Leto, and Margot Robbie, the advertising campaign has taken a chance on enticing the audience by doing a hard sell on the unique and dangerous characters each actor is playing, even though they may not be as well known to casual moviegoers as, say, Batman or Superman.
Well, whatever Warner Bros. is doing, it seems to be working. As the movie's August 5 release date looms ever closer, the promotional side of things continues with the getting-to-know-you phase of the operation by issuing a new batch of stylish character posters that could also double as trading cards, perfect for hardcore fans and the uninitiated alike. Each new poster delivers a crisp, clear image of the character in question as he or she is presented in front of a personalized version of the graffiti-like background.
Take a look at the character posters below:
Looking at each poster, the images are striking as much for the lack of stylization on the character images as they are for the way they sell the chaotic atmosphere of the film. The Harley Quinn poster feels like an image most fans are likely already familiar with, as she and Robbie are clearly a focal point of the promotion at this point. Most of the other images also look like something that's been seen before, but the level of clarity allows for closer inspection of certain individuals who maybe haven't been as big a part of the marketing push. Case in point, Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang looks appropriately crazed, while Jay Hernandez' Diablo finally gets to be front and center (so that he can show off his facial tattoos). Meanwhile, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's Waylon Jones – otherwise known as Killer Croc – manages to show off a lot of personality by giving the camera a little side-glance while chomping down on a toothpick.
It is nice to see that the posters can make room for Viola Davis' Amanda Waller and Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag as well. Since the film is centered on the "Worst. Heroes. Ever." seeing two characters from the other side of the law – inasmuch as something like that counts when you're dealing with a clandestine organization comprised of supervillains – helps even things out a little bit. There's still no sign of Scott Eastwood's mysterious character, but maybe Warner Bros. has his character poster waiting in the wings for after the film's release.
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Suicide Squad opens in U.S. theaters on August 5, 2016, followed by Wonder Woman on June 2, 2017; Justice League on November 17, 2017; The Flash on March 16, 2018; Aquaman on July 27, 2018; an untitled DC Film on October 5, 2018; Shazam on April 5, 2019; Justice League Part Two on June 14, 2019; an untitled DC film on November 1, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on July 24, 2020.
Source: Twitter