A report popped up about a month ago claiming that David Ayer was circling Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment’s big screen rendition of Suicide Squad and now the studios have confirmed it.  Even though Ayer just told us that it’s, “Rumors.  Just rumors.  It’s all rumors,” Ayer will helm the film, which is due to arrive in 2016, making it the first DC movie to hit theaters after the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

I’ve got no problem being blindly thrilled about any big screen rendition of a DC property that Warner Bros. announces, but now that Suicide Squad is official, it’s time to get a little more knowledgeable about the source material.

Keep in mind, I’m approaching this knowing little to nothing about the series, so if there’s additional information worth knowing, do share in the comments section.

Via Comic Vine, the group is rooted in the World War II Suicide Squadron, a team that’s comprised of expendable soldiers and given high-risk assignments.  When the war was over, the members joined the Suicide Squad.

Right now the group includes Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Deathstroke, Black Manta and Duela Dent, the Joker’s daughter.  However, when the group made their first appearance in The Brave and the Bold, it included Rick Flag, Jr., Karin Grace, Dr. Hugh Evans and Jess Bright, non-powered individuals who would take on superpowered foes.

However, earlier reports claim that the Suicide Squad movie will involve convicted supervillains trying to redeem themselves by taking on dangerous missions, so it’s far more likely that the studios will be running with the more modern lot rather than the group that started it all.  If the rumor that surfaced just days ago turns out to be true, the group will consist of Deadshot, Harkness, Vixen, Blockbuster, Multiplex, Jaculi and Mindblogger, not the iteration that’s currently featured in New Suicide Squad #1.  I’ve been a Harley Quinn fan ever since my parents hung a painting of her in our living room back when I was a kid, so it’d be nice to see her added to that list.

So this is basically an ensemble film featuring villains.  I’m in.  In fact, it’s nice to hear this is coming so soon with all the uncertainty around the Spider-Man film franchise.  After getting so many movies with heroes at the core, I was really looking forward to seeing how they’d approach Sinister Six, but my hope for that one is waning big time right now.

Another big plus for this Suicide Squad film is Ayer.  Forget the whole cliché dark and gritty approach; how about we just focus on loading the movie with visceral action and run with something more grounded that has a little bit of bite to it?  Ayer’s already done it to varying degrees in Fury, Sabotage, End of Watch and more.  The only possible drawback is that it’s so unlikely Warner Bros. would give Ayer the OK to make an R-rated superhero film.

Regardless, the studios have my attention.  Ayer’s a talented director and based on my surface-level research, it seems as though Suicide Squad could offer a fun, fresh spin on the genre.