The most difficult anti-heroes in the DC Universe come together once again in THE SUICIDE SQUAD, formerly known as SUICIDE SQUAD 2. A mix of returning favorites and new characters must infiltrate an island full of heavily armed militants, the better to… well, we're not exactly sure what they're trying to accomplish, but it is certainly dangerous.

This new chapter in the Squad's story has a slightly different look and feel thanks to a new director: James Gunn, who rocketed (ahem) to fame after making the two GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY movies for Marvel Studios. Since Gunn's background is in horror, he's got the dark sensibility for a Suicide Squad movie even as his Marvel movies prove that he can bring unusual characters to life. Check out the new trailer for THE SUICIDE SQUAD below, and learn everything you need to know about the movie.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD will be in theatres on August 6, 2021.

While this trailer for THE SUICIDE SQUAD doesn't reveal too much about the story in the movie, it does introduce a whole bunch of new characters, like Peacemaker, King Shark, Bloodsport, and Polka Dot Man, as it reintroduces Harley Quinn, Amanda Waller, Captain Boomerang, and Rick Flagg.

More importantly, it gives us a taste of how weird this movie is likely to be, and how it will incorporate humor into an adventure that is as darkly unpredictable as we've come to expect from DC movies. With a giant walking shark who likes to eat people as part of the story, THE SUICIDE SQUAD isn't exactly going to be realistic, but it looks like it will be memorable!

Good question! The official synopsis is pretty vague, and since the trailer is more focused on personality and action than plot, we have to read between some lines. Or, we can turn to what Warner Bros. has to say about the story so far:

"Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A.  Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X.  Today’s do-or-die assignment?  Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn.  Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.  Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement.  And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself).  If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them."

That's a long way to say "this movie is about King Shark, the greatest comic book character ever to hit the big screen," but maybe Warner Bros. just doesn't want to give too much away right now.

Take a deep breath because there are so many great actors in THE SUICIDE SQUAD that it might be easier to list who isn't in the movie than who is. Margot Robbie returns as Harley Quinn, as you already know, and she's joined by a few other actors reprising their roles from the last movie, notably Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang. 

Joining the team are Idris Elba as Bloodshot, John Cena as Peacemaker, Peter Capaldi as Thinker, David Dastmalchian as Polka Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, Michael Rooker as Savant, Alice Braga as Solsoria, Pete Davidson as Blackguard, Storm Reid as Tyla, Nathan Fillion as TDK, Sean Gunn as Weasel, Mayling Ng as Mongal, and Flula Borg as Javelin.

Then there are Joaquín Cosio, Juan Diego Botto, Jennifer Holland, and Tinashe Kajese as a variety of supporting characters and antagonists. Taika Waititi is also in the movie, but his role is still a mystery. And, finally, there's Sylvester Stallone, who also played a small role in Gunn's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2.

He is! Sylvester Stallone voices King Shark, which only supports our notion that this movie should perhaps be formally called KING SHARK. While the character was played on set by comedian Steve Agee, whose movements provided the basic performance for King Shark's animation, Stallone stepped in to provide the character's voice. (This is similar to James Gunn's process on the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY movies, where his brother Sean Gunn "played" Rocket Raccoon on set before Bradley Cooper provided the character's vocal performance.)

It (he?) is called Starro. In the comics, Starro can regenerate, like a starfish, and, unlike a starfish, also has mind control abilities. Is Starro the movie's true big bad? In this case, "big" is at least correct.

Idris Elba's Bloodsport is a somewhat broken and crazed killer who was originally introduced in a story that saw him shooting kryptonite bullets at Superman. Meanwhile, Storm Reid's Tyla is the daughter of Bloodsport. Michael Rooker's Savant has a couple of incarnations in comic books and was originally a wealthy Batman wanna-be. The movie version seems to be based on DC's "New 52" stories that kicked off in 2011, which placed Savant in the Suicide Squad lineup. Then there's David Dastmalchian's Polka-Dot Man, a fairly goofy-looking guy from 1960s Batman comics who just wanted to be noticed by the Caped Crusader. To that end, he placed strange technological traps around Gotham City and used bizarre weaponry, all based on the visual motif of spots and dots. (David Dastmalchian has already appeared in Christopher Nolan's Batman movies as a different character, and we presume there won't be any link established between his two roles.)

John Cena's Peacemaker was originally a fanatical devotee of peace who takes his worldview to an unhealthy extreme. The character has been around for decades, in various versions, but the look we see Cena sporting in the movie goes all the way back to Peacemaker's 1967 comic book debut. Flula Borg's Javelin is an athlete-turned-criminal who uses his sporting background to wield — you guessed it — javelin-based weapons. Based on the name alone, Daniela Melchior's Ratcatcher 2 seems like a successor to the DC Comics character Ratcatcher, who claimed to talk to rats and used his fascination with rodents as a means to terrorize Gotham.

This article should be entirely about King Shark, but for now, we'll just say that the comic book version was the child of a shark god and could basically do all the things sharks can do, only on land. The character was originally slated for the first SUICIDE SQUAD movie, but the effects to bring him to life proved to be overwhelming at the time, so Killer Croc was swapped in. Nathan Fillion's TDK is an unusual fellow whose three-letter-moniker may stand for "the Detachable Kid." He's based on Floyd "TDK" Belkin, a briefly-seen late '80s character who wanted to join the Legion of Super-Heroes. His power? He could pull off his arms and use them as clubs. Presumably, he couldn't wield both arms at once. The bizarre would-be Legionnaire was originally called Arm-Fall-Off-Boy and was inspired by a fan-made parody.  

Peter Capaldi's Thinker is probably Clifford DeVoe, the first man in DC Comics history to use the name. He was a lawyer who spun a bit of unpolished technological know-how into a criminal career. Pete Davidson's Blackguard is a criminal enforcer who joins the Squad, and Alice Braga's Solsoria (or Sol Soria?) is a relative mystery, as is Sean Gunn's Weasel, who may be based on a minor 1980's comic book character, but who will probably have a whole new story in the movie.

At this point, even if we hadn't already said that GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY writer/director James Gunn was also the writer and director of THE SUICIDE SQUAD, you might have guessed thanks to the number of actors he has ported over from his Marvel movies. (And, in truth, a few, like Michael Rooker, have worked with Gunn for a long time.) Gunn's stamp is all over the trailer, and we expect that what little we've seen so far is only the beginning for this wild, weird movie.

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All images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.