8 Reasons Suicide Squad Became A Box Office Success (Despite Being Terrible)

8. It’s “Something Different” (But Also The Same)

If one more person praises Suicide Squad for not being like the “cookie cutter” Marvel movies I think I’m going to scream. Not just because Marvel movies are no more cookie cutter than any other major blockbuster (I’d definitely recommend checking out Simon Gallagher’s great exploration of the key criticisms against them), but because David Ayer does follow formula an awful lot here. In fact, its characters are so neutered that despite being repeatedly called “bad guys”, they’re not dissimilar from the conflicted Avengers.

However, that’s not to say Suicide Squad isn’t different from the rest of the superhero pack. There is an attempt at anarchism and the tone, with the film painted in bright colours and overwhelmed with pop songs, is very out there. It’s not a good aesthetic, but it’s certainly unique, while still fitting in with what we know.

And that’s what people really want: something different, but not too different to not be familiar. Imagining for a moment all the film’s issues don’t exist, Suicide Squad fits that description almost perfectly.