With X-Men and Batman Begins - two stylistic milestones for the superhero subgenre - Bryan Singer and Christopher Nolan ditched the tights and spandex, toned down the campiness and introduced some grit to the comic book movie. And they were so successful, they influenced near-every superhero movie in their wake into doing the same. This more 'realistic' style, however, arguably reached its nadir with Man Of Steel, a film marred by the choice to neglect the comics and give Superman a more plain, anonymous look. With Suicide Squad, it would appear David Ayer has not only forged a new path and found a design middle-ground between reality and colourful comic book wackiness, but created characters who look like they were lifted straight from existing DC media. Obviously, a candy-coloured Harley Quinn and a freaked-out punk Joker were always going to be divisive, but these are faithful, bold artistic choices. This is Ayer not following the crowd by muting the comic book nature of Suicide Squad like most other filmmakers would have done - rather, he's embraced the absurdity and made Task Force X appear memorably bizarre.