Director David Ayer’s supervillain spectacular Suicide Squad took over Hall H today at Comic-Con, usurping the stage normally reserved for heroes. Audiences didn’t seem to mind; in fact, they warmly welcomed Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Will Smith’s Deadshot and most of the film’s cast. Unfortunately they couldn’t hang around long – Batman v Superman almost chased them off the stage – but they did share the first look at a trailer with us after a few comments from Ayer himself.

Ayer took the stage to tell the audience that, even though they were just shooting in Toronto last night, they had to come to Hall H because this audience “runs this shit.” He said, “Good vs Evil is played out. It’s time for Bad vs Evil.” He made a claim for DC Comics having the best villains ever, but wanted to avoid an “East Coast vs West Coast feud with Marvel.

At this point, Katana (Karen Fukahara), Slipknot (Adam Beach), Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Col. Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman), Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), Harley Quinn (Robbie), and Deadshot (Smith) took the stage with Ayer. Smith shares a quick word of praise for Ayer before the cast has to exit.

[Update: Click here to check out the film's official logo]

Trailer Description

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Image via Warner Bros.

In addition to some darkly toned concept art for Suicide Squad’s interpretation of the characters, Hall H got to check out the first trailer, which opens with Waller sharing dinner with her colleagues. She introduces the idea for the Suicide Squad, a team of antiheroes she personally put together that’s composed of the worst of the worst. They’ll be tasked with suicide missions that, should they go wrong, provides no connection to Waller and her organization. Waller namedrops Superman before she confidently asserts that she can control these villains because she knows their weaknesses. We then get individual looks at the main players in the Squad.

Harley lounges, hanging suspended in a prison cell like an acrobat; Deadshot works his frustration out on a heavy punching bag; Killer Croc lurks in the shadows under a hood that doesn’t quite hide his face; and the rest of the team members soon come together under the direction of Waller. While Arkham Asylum guards and Gotham City Police officers patrol the streets – the militarized law enforcement being a familiar presence in Ayer’s films – Deadshot coins the team’s name based on their tasks: the Suicide Squad.

Then we get a nice montage of the Squad heading out on a variety of missions that lead to absolute chaos in the streets. A gunman in a panda suit shoots up a grocery store; an assault on Arkham Asylum sprays automatic gunfire all over the place; a Caped Crusader hangs onto the roof of a getaway vehicle as it speeds through the streets, followed by shots of the Batmobile in persuit. Gunfire and explosions erupt on every corner while each of the team members do what they do best, getting bloody and bruised along the way. We get a sense that there’s some impending peril present for each of the characters independently, and to the city overall, but just what’s causing the chaos isn’t entirely clear.

What is clear, however, is the Joker’s appearance. The entire trailer features the spooky song "I Started a Joke,"  playing over the scenes of violence with Harley dropping darkly comic one-liners every few beats. This all leads up to the reveal of the Joker. First, we hear Leto’s laugh, a sharp, staccato bark that’s far different from anything we’ve heard so far, almost mechanical. He’s hidden for most of the trailer, but there’s a final shot of Joker holding electroshock cables and smiling his steel-toothed grin at the camera. It’s certainly a bold statement for Leto’s vision of the Joker, and I’m looking forward to hearing fans’ reactions to it. The only thing I’m more interested in is checking out Suicide Squad when it opens next summer.