Just last week, a new trailer for the upcoming movie Suicide Squad was released, giving fans a better look at the story and especially the characters. Previously, the only peek anyone had at the film was through the Comic Con trailer, which was released mostly to get people talking.
Set against Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the new Suicide Squad trailer can only be described as epic. We get a look at the rag tag team of bad guys in their truly evil form, and a sense that they are going out to save the world with a chance of not making it back. The trailer in itself got people excited, as well as the fact that is has a diverse cast starring both men and women of color, something that Hollywood desperately needs right now.
Regardless of the fact that it was well shot and gave just enough information to keep audiences wanting more, people still had a lot to say about what they didn’t like—especially on the Internet. The majority of the online hate went towards Jared Leto and his portrayal of The Joker, arguably the most famous fictional villain ever. This was to be expected. After all, there are so many versions of The Joker and so many directions to take him in. Fans get attached to the previous portrayal of the character and are unwilling to move on to a new interpretation.
If you are one of the skeptics wary of welcoming Leto’s Joker onto the screen, consider this: when Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s 2008 film The Dark Knight, he was not welcomed with open arms. Considering that he had just garnered attention for Brokeback Mountain, people took to the Internet with homophobic comments. Fast forward to 2009, when Ledger’s family accepted a posthumous Academy Award on his behalf for Best Supporting Actor for playing whom? You guessed it, our very own Mister J. And fast forward to now, where people are saying that Leto’s Joker won’t live up to Ledger’s.
So why should you see it? Well first of all, if you listened to everything people on the Internet told you, you’d never have any fun, would you? It’s known for jumping to conclusions and being proven wrong. Obviously, if you are a hardcore Joker fan and have the perfect image in your head of what the character should look like, by all means, be skeptical. But if you’re refusing to like it based on less than 30 seconds of footage of one character, give it a chance. Who knows? Maybe in ten years people will be grumbling about how the new Joker will never live up to Jared Leto’s version.
Let’s go back to the diversity. The cast features people like Viola Davis, Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and Cara Delevingne, just to name a few. It is rumored that Harley Quinn will play the biggest role in the film, making way for a female character to steal the spotlight. The film will also expose viewers who are mostly movie fans to new characters they may have never heard of.
This is a movie from the side of the bad guys. How cool is that? So take a chance on it the way these villains are being given their own chance.
And if that’s not enough, use the fact that Ben Affleck’s Batman will be in it as incentive. (Unless you were one of the people saying he will never be able to top Christian Bale. If not, reread the above and change the names!)
Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 5, 2016.