The official synopsis for James Gunn's The Suicide Squad has arrived and oh boy, it's a doozy. Gunn has confirmed that his Suicide Squad movie is completely unrelated to David Ayer's 2016 Suicide Squad movie. Sure, some familiar faces from the 2016 movie will be popping up in Gunn's movie, including Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. But make no mistake: Gunn has assembled an even motlier crew filled with frequent collaborators, famous faces, and exciting newcomers for his entry in the DC Extended Universe.
Previously, the only information we'd had about the plot of Gunn's movie — beyond the fact that Amanda Waller would be assembling a team of villains to send out into the field on a dangerous mission, which is the traditional inciting incident from this team's formation — was shared at the DC FanDome event back in 2020. At that time, The Suicide Squad producer Peter Safran teased that this movie is "completely unique" and went on to say, "This is a gritty, 1970s war movie combined with the brilliance of James Gunn's characters and comedy."
Warner Bros. has finally released the official synopsis for The Suicide Squad. It reads:
"Welcome to hell — a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese."
So, I need to interject here because the confirmation that The Suicide Squad will be set in Corto Maltese should have your DC Comics alarm bells ringing. Why? Because, in the comics, Corto Maltese is the name of a small island off the coast of South America which becomes the site of a rebel uprising. The U.S. backs Corto Maltese's government while the Soviet Union backs the rebels, furthering heightening international political tensions. The U.S. sends in Superman to subdue the uprising. Things do not go according to plan whatsoever because the Soviet Union ends up launching a nuclear missile that Superman deflects from the island but sends to another part of the Earth, proceeding to mess things up big time.
While I highly doubt Henry Cavill will make a Superman cameo at some point in The Suicide Squad's (still unconfirmed) runtime, having this key bit of information confirmed should be enough to activate fans into cooking up tons of theories. Okay, back to the rest of the synopsis!
The synopsis continues,
"Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and- destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave...and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them."
What the rest of The Suicide Squad synopsis manages to eschew is any information about the nature of the mission. Who is the team searching for? And will any major villains from DC Comics and/or the DCEU be appearing to challenge the team as they try to complete their mission? Which Suicide Squad team members will for sure survive this mission? Those are questions that will hopefully be answered when a trailer for The Suicide Squad arrives in the coming months.
The Suicide Squad will premiere on HBO Max the same day it hits theaters: August 6. Refresh your memory with this trip back to the first look at The Suicide Squad shared during DC FanDome 2020.