The second trailer for Suicide Squad seems to be painting a more care-free version of DC universe events, which would be a huge mistake.
The first, albeit unofficial outside of San Diego Comic Con, trailer for the upcoming DC villain team-up movie felt like a tone setter for the entire DC cinematic universe. It was haunting to see villains such as Harley Quinn and Deadshot slowly working through their daily routines behind bars, fully aware that their chance to emerge into the world was oncoming. Jared Leto’s Joker felt dangerous and menacing with only a few visuals and a sign-off line that sent the crowd into a frenzy. In the inaugural year where superhero movies are going to attempt to blow apart records with each new release, Suicide Squad felt different from the others.
But the second trailer, which dropped last night on the CW, projects the movie in a different light that is, ironically, drawing more and more similarities to other hero movies that have come and gone. More specifically, Marvel movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy and even a touch of Avengers, neither of which should be suitable titles for Suicide Squad to emulate.
This emulation, however unwelcome, is somewhat understandable given that Marvel is currently painted as the overlord of the superhero movie market. DC, more out of coveting their neighbor’s fortune than wanting to completely reset, is well behind in number of products and some would say quality. The Marvel cinematic universe is a perpetual currency machine at this point whereas DC is winding up their real first pitch, so yeah, it’s understandable that they would be scouting out the competition for some notes.
Much in the way Marvel should take some notes from DC in the video game world. In fact, the former’s approach to gaming really does reflect their approach to movies, doesn’t it? Marvel movies take a cavalier slant to superheroes where you’re meant to leave the theater entertained, but often wanting a bit more from the story or sense of drama. All of the “canon” Marvel films feel like they’re cut from the same quilt; colorful characters that create themselves through comedy as much as action that end up failing with some human vice and ultimately pull themselves up to do something that feels extraordinary. It’s the formula that keeps on giving, but it’s an equation that isn’t intended to be taken seriously. You’re meant to have fun in the theater specifically with a crowd of chuckling people that are connected with the hero’s weakness as much as the outlandish, but still almost human, action.
So when the best Avengers game comes the way of Traveler’s Tales’ LEGO series, you can feel the mass-market pattern. Still, DC wins in video games as sales, quality, and even notoriety are not even close in the interactive realm between these entertainment entities. It is a fascinating show of popularity where the Arkham series, featuring only characters from Batman lore, has sold over 30 million units to date while all of Marvel’s retail video game history from 1982, under the Activision umbrella, comes out to 25 million units sold. That includes Spider-Man, The Avengers, X-Men, and multiple other franchises.
The differences of market share and expectations between movies and video games have been around since superhero movies began to hit mainstream in the early 2000s, and that difference makes Marvel’s formula obsolete on home consoles. That formula fails outside of the theater because you’re not there to feel distress or any real fear over the hero’s life or end goal being out of reach. There are plenty of characters in their movies and very few of them show any resolve; each movie thus far has at least once completely manufactured way to send the character into an unsure situation, often showing an extreme version of humanity’s periodic uncertainty. As everything feels uncertain inside of the character, most viewers remain relatively certain that whatever calamity the world is facing will turn out just fine in the end, making it seem like you’re not even supposed to worry at all even during manufactured scenes. You’re just supposed to follow the patented Marvel easy-way formula that is only ever meant to entertain you.
DC’s major movies have followed an opposite approach in some ways. The Dark Knight featured Batman and The Joker almost exclusively, setting Christian Bale’s crusader against only a single uncertainty embodied by Heath Ledger’s chaotic Prince of Crime. Bruce Wayne and Gotham were still in peril, had just as much character as anything Marvel has done, and yet don’t rely on the same old formula. The major test and draw of most Batman stories is “What would it take for Batman to not be Batman?” and that question has been approached from a lot of angles with varying levels of success. Superman has been approached in a really similar way but with much less originality you can argue. No matter which hero, the best of both franchises has that question at the center with the chosen answer – that single struggle – being supplemented by the actions in the movie instead of the other way around. The world and actions therein seem to matter more because of the character being tested and potentially worn down instead of a multitude of actions suddenly throwing the hero’s entire life into disarray – it’s the anti-Marvel approach.
Which brings us back to Suicide Squad and the issues with the first official trailer. There’s nothing inherently wrong with Marvel movies and a lot of people enjoy them, but DC movies feel fundamentally different. It’s a world affecting a character versus a character affecting the world, the difference between Marvel’s cinematic universe and DC’s potential one, a difference that should certainly remain intact. Suicide Squad should stay on the DC side of that line with only the slightest influences from their film rival.
The trailer shows a lot of images, only pausing to show the characters doing character-y things such as Harley mentioning the voices in her head or Killer Croc eating people. The whole thing feels like a Marvel trailer not because of the humor but because of the characters not seeming to have any core to hold onto to affect the world with. These villains probably won’t be facing too many moral conundrums given their projected mental states but there can still be characters there. Enchantress seems to have some back story, Quinn will almost certainly have a past with The Joker, Deadshot has some tortured memories, but will any of that give them a core or is it all justification for their crazy? Example: Tony Stark has a dead father that doesn’t build his character so much as it gives him the means, both monetarily and psychologically, to build a character. The Joker, no matter which origin story you subscribe to, dove headfirst into a methodical insanity because he wanted to make a difference in the world even pre-Joker. Again, the world affecting a character versus the character affecting the world is in play.
Imagine Suicide Squad going the route of “explaining” The Joker. Imagine the movie explaining Joker as a kid who was left his mom or dad’s clown empire and he was unsure of what to do with his life, rationally deciding to just give himself to crime with his morality giving him fits when he does his most extreme crimes. Imagine The Joker being held down by treaties or because his top henchman left his side. That would literally take the joke out of The Joker.
The Suicide Squad trailer paints the team as victims of the world rather than being in control in a malleable world around them. Most of the squad have their own personalities, but none of them have yet to prove that their ready to change or impact the world, not even Joker or Harley. She, in fact, seems to be playing for a crowd when she talks in the trailer, which is part of her character but not all of it. A trailer is just a trailer, basically a flip book of sights and sounds of what to expect, but this one places Suicide Squad as treading a little too closely to the Marvel model of entertainment without consequences. Don’t do it, DC. Don’t take the easy way out.
