10 Movies That Subverted Expectations (And Fans Hated It)

7. Suicide Squad

Prometheus EW Cover
Warner Bros.

Since its inception, it’s been an uphill struggle for Warner Brothers’ DC Extended Universe. Sure, the last couple of years have seen Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam! receive a positive response, but the all-encompassing shared realm of heroes and villains that Warners and DC imaged hasn’t panned out quite like they were hoping for.

Bar Margot Robbie’s turn as Harley Quinn, 2016’s Suicide Squad is one of several DCEU films that left audiences scratching their heads at so much of what they’d just seen play out. And one of the biggest problems many had with the film was Jared Leto’s portrayal of the sinister Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker.

To his credit, Leto produced a Joker that was most certainly different to anything we’d seen before. Covered in tattoos, with silver teeth, and with an extremely unique cadence, this was a Joker that was vastly different to Messrs Romero, Nicholson and Ledger.

Regardless of how different Leto’s Jester of Genocide was, the majority of audiences didn’t care for this take on The Joker. So poorly received was this take on Batman’s greatest villain, plans for Leto to return for several further Mr. J outings have been put on hold indefinitely; Joaquin Phoenix now set to take a crack at another different incarnation of The Joker later this year.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.