SPOILERS: SUICIDE SQUAD - 10 Rumors Which Ended Up Being Bullsh*t
Anticipation for David Ayer's Suicide Squad movie was at all-time high for years, hence why there were so many rumours about it! However, these were the biggest and ultimately nowhere near accurate...
Like most major blockbusters, we've spent the past couple of years reading all sorts of rumours about how things in Suicide Squad were supposed to play out. While it's been easy enough to tell that many of those have been nonsense, a lot of them have been very believeable, but many of them didn't end up panning out. In fact, we now know that they were 100% bullsh*t! Some were fairly minor claims in the grand scheme of things, while others claimed to spoil the entire plot, but they were ALL wrong.
In fairness to the sites that broke these, things change behind the scenes and false information gets distributed all the time, so the intention here isn't to shame anyone for getting their facts wrong (even if some always felt blatantly false). Instead, it's to take a look at just how different Suicide Squad could have been had these ended up being true, not to mention a recap of sorts about how much was reported which ended up not panning out. Needless to say, Suicide Squad SPOILERS follow...
10. The Joker Spends The Movie Sitting In A Prison Cell
Despite the fact that many of his scenes were heavily edited, Jared Leto's Joker goes on quite a journey in Suicide Squad as we follow him back to Harley Quinn. However, early reports pointed to the Clown Prince of Crime remaining in one place for pretty much the entire movie as the plan was apparently for him to be imprisoned in the basement of Belle Reve.
There, The Joker would have been used as a means of keeping Harley in check, while Amanda Waller would have taken advantage of the villain as a source of intel (more on that later). Compared to Hannibal Lecter, this version of The Joker would have had a very different sort of presence in the movie as he taunted his visitors and worked out while showing off the scars on his body which had been left there after facing Batman.
9. Harley Quinn Has Some Pet Hyenas
One rumour claimed that we would see Harley Quinn in a variety of costumes in Suicide Squad, and while some of the details were a little off (she was seen in a revealing dress, but not during any sort of infiltration of a club), those claims were accurate for the most part. However, something we definitely didn't end up seeing was the character's pet hyenas.
As well as reportedly being a big motif throughout the movie, they were supposed to make some sort of brief appearance, something sure to make fans of Batman: The Animated Series happy. While it's entirely possible that this scene was considered at some point in the pre-production process, there was obviously no sign of them in the movie itself, and it's honestly pretty tough to imagine where they could have shown up anyway.
8. Rick Flag Sr. Is The Movie's Real Villain
As well as keeping a very close eye on the members of Task Force X, Rick Flag's main goal in Suicide Squad was rescuing his girlfriend June Moon (a.k.a. Enchantress). However, one report pointed to there being a pretty major twist for the heroic character at the end of the movie as it would have been revealed that he was in league with his father Rick Flag Sr.
Apparently, the duo were after the "weapons" amassed by Amanda Waller, while the younger Flag would have been there to watch over her. It was even widely reported at the time that this leftfield twist is what led to Tom Hardy deciding to drop out of Suicide Squad. The truth of course was that he had to go back to work on The Revenant, and seeing as an older actor was never cast as Flag Sr. we've known this one was wrong for a while.
7. Lex Luthor Will Make A Cameo Appearance
I'm not sure about you guys, but I totally forgot about reports that Lex Luthor was supposed to appear in Suicide Squad when I saw the movie. Jesse Eisenberg being in talks to appear in the movie came from reliable sources but was never confirmed. However, seeing as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice concluded with the villain behind bars (and on his way to Arkham Asylum according to that movie's Ultimate Edition), it would have made perfect sense for him to show up at some point.
Some claimed he would make a fleeting cameo appearance, while others made it sound as if Lex would be racing against Task Force X to get to the Enchantress. While it's entirely possible that the villain showed up in an earlier draft, he wasn't even referenced in the final cut of Suicide Squad.
6. Amanda Waller Has Aquaman's Trident
There were a lot of rumours about how the members of the Justice League would factor into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but one of the most interesting pertained to Aquaman. Apparently, all we would see of the King of Atlantis in that movie would be his hand slapping against the glass of a containment chamber where he was being held prisoner by Amanda Waller.
This would have then been expanded on in Suicide Squad when the character's trident would be revealed to be in Waller's "trophy case." It was said that the villain would have captured Aquaman after a messy battle with King Shark, someone David Ayer recently revealed was in an earlier version of the story before he was replaced by Killer Croc. Honestly, as cool as this all sounds, it was probably never more than fan-fiction.
5. How Deadshot And Harley Quinn Meet
The opening of Suicide Squad features a series of musical montages as Amanda Waller introduces the key members of Task Force X, but one report pointed to the movie kicking off in a very different fashion. Apparently, we were supposed to see Deadshot attempting to assassinate an Arkham Asylum inmate being transported only for Harley Quinn to interrupt after setting out to free The Joker from captivity.
As a result of this botched mission for both villains, they would have ended up being captured and taken to Belle Reve. There was nothing in Suicide Squad to suggest that this was ever going to be the case, while talk of Harley and the Clown Prince of Crime being estranged due to her guilt over the murder of Robin also proved to be way off the mark, especially as she was named as an accomplice!
4. The Movie Ends With A Prison Riot
It was said from the very start that The Joker would have a key role in Suicide Squad, albeit from within a cell. The prospect of not getting to see the iconic Batman villain in action obviously upset some fans, hence why a rumour about him playing a key role in the movie's final act was met with such excitement! Apparently, the movie would end with The Joker breaking out of Belle Reve, murdering a number of people along the way.
During this prison riot, other DC Comics villains would have been revealed, and given what had recently happened in first issue of Detective Comics in The New 52 Universe, many fans started speculating that we could end up seeing The Joker's face left behind in a similar way to what you see above. Suicide Squad ended with a prison break, but not this one!
3. Deadshot Killed Captain Boomerang's Father
As great as Jai Courtney was as Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad, there wasn't a massive amount of excitement surrounding the character until we first saw him in the trailers. As a result, there weren't exactly a long list of rumours out there about his involvement in the movie, but one very interesting report claimed that the Aussie criminal would have some history with Deadshot.
Boomer was supposed to already be a member of Task Force X when we met him, but the villain would hold a grudge against the master assassin due to the fact that Deadshot killed his father! That certainly would have shaken up the team dynamic in a fairly significant way, but based on the way each of these characters was introduced and interacted, this plot point was either false or from a much earlier version of the screenplay.
2. An Unexpected Love Triangle
Deadshot and Harley Quinn certainly form something of a bond in Suicide Squad, but there was no sign of the romance which some sites promised. In fairness, Will Smith himself seeming confirmed that we'd be getting a bizarre love triangle with those two and The Joker when he said, "Harley’s the biggest troublemaker, but Deadshot’s kinda eyeing her a bit. There’s a pretty ragged romantic angle there."
It's entirely possible that these two grew closer in an earlier cut of the movie, especially as we know that The Joker threw Harley from that helicopter in a version of Suicide Squad where their relationship was a more abusive one. Either way, it definitely doesn't look like Deadshot and Harley will be hooking up any time soon, especially not after the way the movie ended.
1. Amanda Waller Is After Batman
The Joker was supposed to be covered in scars from his many battles with Batman and it was said that he was the only member of Task Force X to have met the villain (something the movie made clear wasn't the case fairly early on). That is why Amanda Waller would have kept him in the basement of Belle Reve; apparently, she was supposed to view Batman as the key to tracking down all of the world' metahumans, and while that makes sense, it became clear after Batman v Superman that this wouldn't have worked due to some timeline issues.
It's a plot point which could be addressed in the future, but just like talk of Ike Barinholtz being Hugo Strange and Scott Eastewood being everyone from Nightwing to Steve Trevor went nowhere, neither did this rumour about Batman's importance!
Which of these rumours do you most wish had ended up being accurate? Have we missed any other big ones which ended up being false? As always, sound off with your thoughts below.