A new trailer for James Gunn’s upcoming DC comic book movie The Suicide Squad has arrived — but watching it is basically roulette. Instead of releasing the bigger look at the movie on conventional channels, Warner Bros. debuted the spot via YouTube preroll ads. An official version has yet to be uploaded to any DC or WB channel. The only way to see it? Watch YouTube videos without instinctively hitting “Skip Ad.” (We recommend the Polygon kind.)
Whereas the first teaser flexed the film’s R-rated status with profane lunacy, the full trailer for The Suicide Squad expands on the comic bookiness of it all. The new footage starts by introducing Idris Elba’s character Bloodsport, who evidently put “Superman in the ICU with a kryptonite bullet.” Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller spells out why she needs a(nother) team of villains: Something has gone haywire with “Project Starfish,” and now a giant spore-firing monster is on the attack. The real joy of the new look is an extended riff on Weasel, the humanoid weasel. “He’s harmless,” says Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag. “Well, he’s not harmless, he’s killed 27 children…”
The Suicide Squad is based on the long-running, sometimes-celebrated comic title from DC, and a loose follow-up to David Ayer’s 2016 film Suicide Squad. Though a success, the sour taste of the “Snyderverse” left the possibility of a Suicide Squad 2 in jeopardy, with Warner Bros. instead opting to spin off Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn into Birds of Prey. But when James Gunn was briefly taken off his Guardians of the Galaxy films by Marvel, due to some insensitive jokes and a campaign led by right-wing commentators, WB jumped at the chance to enlist the director to helm a soft reboot. Gunn was later reinstated as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3, making him a central figure in the brokering of peace between DC and Marvel fans.
The Suicide Squad hits theaters and HBO Max on Aug. 6. We’ll update this post when or if an official version of the trailer becomes available. For now, here’s a batch of new images also released with the under-the-radar trailer.
