Suicide Squad 2: 10 Things That Will Make It Awesome
Clayface, Poison Ivy and more Jai Courtney - what's not to like?
Suicide Squad smashed box office expectations when it opened, grossing over $130,000,000 in U.S. receipts in its first weekend. And while a sequel hasn't yet been greenlit, the amount of cash it's raking in makes the chances of a second go-around incredibly likely.
However, greenlighting a sequel is the easy bit - it's nailing one that proves challenging, particularly in the superhero realm. Sure, we have Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Dark Knight, but there are also the likes of Iron Man 2, Kick-Ass 2, Rise of the Silver Surfer and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The bad eggs vastly outnumber the good ones, and based on this evidence, Suicide Squad 2 is facing an uphill battle.
On the bright side, the fact that there are plenty of duff sequels means that Suicide Squad 2 has a lot of mistakes to learn from. And of course, the first Suicide Squad made a lot of mistakes too, and we can only hope that the filmmakers have been paying attention, listening to the criticisms levelled at the movie since it's come out.
Here are ten things they must do to make the sequel awesome...
10. Closer Ties To The Wider DC Cinematic Universe
One of the worst things about Suicide Squad was that it felt inconsequential. It didn't really affect the wider DC world, and besides brief cameos from Batman and The Flash, it was disappointingly light on connections to the other movies. But what's the point in having a cinematic universe if the movies do nothing to contribute to that universe, or don't advance an overarching plot?
Films like Thor and Guardians Of The Galaxy did this well by introducing bigger MCU story points (the Infinity Stones, Thanos) while telling a story about those characters - and there's no reason Suicide Squad 2 can't do the same. These ties shouldn't be too blatant, or out of place - the squad fighting Darkseid or the Justice League, for example. This contradicts their sole reason for existing - nobody is meant to know they exist. They're covert.
Instead, ties to the wider DC Universe should be subtle, integrated seamlessly into the plot and should be a good fit for this group of characters - just like the Infinity Stones in Guardians of the Galaxy. The squad could be sent to fight a minion of Darkseid while the Justice League are occupied with the man himself, for example. This keeps Task Force X relatively low-key while maintaining a throughline with the other DC movies.