Suicide Squad: 12 Last Minute Concerns You Won't Admit

If you're a DC fan, you really have to love Suicide Squad. There's no question of it being a free swing, it has to be a triumph and the hype has to be white hot as it heads into release. The alternative is unthinkable: what if DC kills their movie universe? What if the Joker doesn't live up to Heath Ledger? What if Marvel continue to be crowned kings of superhero movies?

With all of those fears, it's hard to see any objective predictions for Suicide Squad. It's all currently being smushed down by hype, but there are some still there.

It might need to be DC's saviour (at least when it comes to the DC Extended Cinematic Universe or whatever we're supposed to call it these days), but there's no guarantees that it will be flawless. After all, this was always DC's wildcard, and it was only the unfathomable capitulation of Batman v Superman and the complete change in direction that has made it more of a founding stone for what comes next.

That might mean that things that could have easily been forgiven in a more quirky, less mainstream movie are scrutinised in a different, slightly reductive way. Even now, expectations for the film have markedly changed from when it was first announced: critics seem to be leaping on the idea of it being the answer to both all of DC's movie problems and to superhero movie fatigue. That's an almighty burden to carry.

There is some value in knowing the beast you're battling, and there's no harm in expressing your fears so that you may conquer them. So in an attempt to predict the criticisms the film will receive, and indeed to define what the biggest fears are (even in the most ardent of fans), let's have some therapy for those Suicide Squad concerns...

If there's one thing you can say negatively and without question about the MCU, it's that they don't really know how to do villains. They've had a couple of successes with Loki and Ultron and Red Skull to a lesser extent, but the majority of them have been under-fleshed and insubstantial. That goes doubly for underlings and foot soldiers, who are no more than cannon fodder (see, in particular Ultron's robots and The Avengers' Chitauri).

The end result of that sort of thing is that nobody actually cares about them: they might as well be walking targets given their lack of credible threat or substance.

And there's a horrible sense that the Eyes Of The Adversary - the gloopy, black eye-covered mooks doing their master's bidding in Suicide Squad are going to be more of the same. They're there for shear numbers only, to give the ensemble something to do while they're navigating the levels to the big boss.