Can you believe it? James Gunn's The Suicide Squad is finally here for our viewing pleasure.
You might be wondering if this movie is worth your time after Suicide Squad (2016) was a bit, um, underwhelming, to say the least. The answer is YES.
Here are all the biggest differences between David Ayer’s Suicide Squad (2016) and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (2021):
1. The Suicide Squad has a completely different plot from the 2016 movie, but there is still a connection between the films.
2. The Suicide Squad's R rating is used to its fullest extent, and it's WAY more violent, bloody, and profane.
You'll immediately know that this movie is not kidding around when Blackguard/Pete Davidson's face gets blown off before the 10-minute mark.
3. There's no direct reference to the events of the first movie, but James Gunn takes advantage of some of the groundwork laid by David Ayers.
For example, Harley Quinn, Rick Flag, and Captain Boomerang already know each other and have clearly gone on missions together. The prisoners at Belle Reve all know about Amanda Waller's Task Force X, aka the Suicide Squad.
4. The group goes on a mission together right away (within the first 10 minutes), rather than 45 minutes in like in the 2016 version.
This means they spend A LOT more time together, which definitely affects the team vibe.
5. The squad itself has different members.
6. The body count is enormous, and a BUNCH of main characters die.
Captain Boomerang, TDK, Weasel*, Blackguard, Mongal, and Javelin are all dead in the first 12 minutes, quickly followed by Savant, whose head is exploded by Waller when he tries to run away. Rick Flag and Polka-Dot Man also die near the end of the movie. In the 2016 movie, only Slipknot and Diablo die.
*Weasel appeared to drown at the very beginning of the movie, but he actually survived and no one knows. Long live Weasel!
7. Visually, the movies are totally different.
8. The soundtrack in the new movie isn't as aggressive as its predecessor.
The Suicide Squad (2016) had a soundtrack that mixed pretty much every single genre of music and was very on the nose. Music still plays a big role in The Suicide Squad (2021) — this is a James Gunn movie, after all — but it's more subtle and cohesive. The tracks were all picked out by Gunn himself, which was not the case for David Ayer in 2016.
9. Amanda Waller seems to have less power in this version, which can only be a good thing.
10. She's also, somehow, even more evil in this version.
We got the impression that Amanda Waller wasn't a good person in the 2016 movie, but in this movie she is so much worse. She threatens kids, covers up decades of human rights violations, and at one point has to be knocked out so that she won't blow up the whole squad. Viola Davis, who was admittedly very good the first time, is even better at playing this version of the character.
11. Harley wears a lot more clothes in this movie, but she continues her reign as the DCEU's best character.
12. Both movies use flashbacks for expositional purposes, but the 2021 movie just does it better.
The 2016 movie seemed to have a flashback for every single character's backstory, and three or four devoted entirely to Harley and the Joker. The 2021 version has just four notable flashbacks, and only one of them is for a new character's backstory.
13. Bloodsport replaces Deadshot as the unlikely leader of the team.
14. Farewell, Killer Croc — welcome, King Shark.
15. Rick Flag is cool now.
16. The new characters are unexpected but perfect additions to the story.
17. The villain is relatively small compared to Enchantress from the first movie.
No potential apocalypse here! Just the corrupt government of a small island nation and a giant starfish monster. Sure, Starro is absurd (and also legit scary?), but it's nice for a superhero movie to change up the usual CGI climax from a faceless army or a giant light beam in the sky.
18. No Joker!
19. In fact, there is little to no connection to the DCEU's previous movies.
Suicide Squad (2016) was directly connected to the ending of Batman v. Superman, and even featured cameos from Batman and the Flash. That's not the case in this movie, which makes one reference to Superman and nothing more.
20. There are a couple of Easter eggs that reference James Gunn's previous superhero work in the MCU.
21. The whole cast gets a chance to shine.
Suicide Squad (2016) had Margot Robbie and Will Smith, but none of the other team members were memorable at all (sorry). You'll be happy to know that the 2021 version lets every character make an impression, even the ones who are dead before the 12-minute mark.
22. The relationships between the characters are much stronger this time around.
23. And finally: In general, this movie is waaaay less serious than its predecessor.
