As part of their "99 Ways to Spend 99 Days" summer guide, Entertainment Weekly has shared a pair of new photos from The Suicide Squad, a film that director James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) lovingly calls, "a war-caper movie with s---ty supervillains."
2x Academy Award-nominee Margot Robbie (Birds of Prey; The Wolf of Wall Street), who is reprising her role as Harley Quinn for the third time, reinforced those war movie vibes, describing her first day on the Atlanta set, "The first set we shot on was this beach. It was so amazing. Palm trees. An ocean with a wave machine in it. Pyrotechnics. Special effects. Explosions everywhere. It was like being in a proper, crazy war movie."
As for the plot, the recently revealed synopsis did confirm that the film will take the team to Corto Maltese, and producer Peter Safran has now shared a bit more on what Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) will call on them to do.
"Corto Maltese has alien materials they're trying to weaponize to use against the United States and the rest of the world. The Suicide Squad are told to go [there] and destroy Jotunheim, which is this giant fortress."
As for the newcomers, with Will Smith (Suicide Squad; Bad Boys for Life) bowing out, Idris Elba (Thor: Ragnarok; Avengers: Infinity War) will be leading the team this time around as Bloodsport. Elba teases, "He's a real reluctant member of the Squad. He's a bit grumpy. He's not the warmest guy. Yeah, just playing myself, really."
Luckily, Task Force X will have plenty of backup and comic relief this time around, with the big time addition of Peacemaker (John Cena),who will likely be an easy fan favorite. "He has this moral code that seems skewed by the amount of violence he inflicts. It's like f---ing for virginity - he's fighting for peace," says Safran.
The upcoming film stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Idris Elba as Bloodsport, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, John Cena as Peacemaker, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Michael Rooker as Savant, Flula Borg as Javelin, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, Steve Agee as King Shark, Mayling Ng as Mongal, Peter Capaldi as The Thinker, Alice Braga as Sol Soria, Pete Davidson as Blackguard, Nathan Fillion as T.D.K., Sean Gunn as Weasel, Storm Reid as Tyla, Taika Waititi in an undisclosed role, Joaquín Cosío as Mateo Suárez, Juan Diego Botto as Silvio Luna, Tinashe Kajese as Flo Crawley, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, John Ostrander as Dr. Fitzgibbon, and Sylvester Stallone as the voice of King Shark.
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.
The Suicide Squad hits theaters and arrives on HBO Max on August 6