The first phase of the DC Extended Universe, multiple trade reports have described The Suicide Squad as a reboot of 2016's Suicide Squad in all but name.
While Gunn's film still includes some cast from Suicide Squad, directed by David Ayer, The Suicide Squad is intended to be a standalone sequel. Currently, the DCEU is a very different beast from what it was intended to be when Man of Steel kicked off the franchise and established its style, tone, and thematic intent. Indeed, Warner Bros. seemed to get scared very quickly once reviews and box office numbers showed that their plans for their IP weren’t going as intended, which spurred Suicide Squad's reshoots and indicated just how little planning went into the DCEU.
Stories of the DCEU’s behind-the-scenes drama are well-known now, from reshoots to the exit of Ben Affleck as Batman to everything surrounding Marvel Cinematic Universe at their own game.
Suicide Squad Was Believed To Setup More DCEU Films
Suicide Squad was intended to establish a whole slew of characters to be spun off into their own movies as well as play key parts in the expanded universe as it grew beyond Gotham and Metropolis. While the movie was intended to remain within the specific tone set up by Zack Snyder, it was also sold during its production stages as a grittier, bleaker, and more adult-focused Dirty Dozen-style anti-hero caper. Suicide Squad was a move to do something that Marvel wasn’t - develop an ensemble of villains and give them their own stories separate from their heroic adversaries. In of the myriad DCEU movies that were announced then abandoned over the years, many of them had their roots in Suicide Squad’s original plans.
The build-up of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) did pay off with Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix's Joker was developed. Furthermore, any connections between Suicide Squad's Joker and Batman via Joker's murder of Robin have not paid off. Will Smith also teased a Deadshot solo movie in 2018, which will probably not happen now, if it was ever a real possibility.
One of the biggest criticisms of Batman v. Superman: The Dawn of Justice. Despite that ambition and tight time frame, there didn’t seem to be much more long-term planning in place from Warner Bros. This problem was in full display by the time Suicide Squad went into reshoots and the editing room.
How Suicide Squad Was Changed By Reshoots
What made the Suicide Squad reshoots so messy was how obvious and ill-fitting they were to the rest of the movie. The movie had already been hampered by the fact that Ayer had been given a mere six weeks to put together a working script, but the real troubles began when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice received a critical mauling for its bleak tone. This tone was one of the establishing elements of the DCEU at that time, but Warner Bros. demanded a change of pace and style for Suicide Squad.
The Method acting as the Joker may have soured the public's interest. The next trailer felt like it was for a whole new movie, complete with rollicking action, lots of jokes, and a heavy neon stylistic overlay.
The movie's troubles increased in the editing room. Ayer did a cut of the film, but Warner Bros. also brought in another crew to make an alternative cut. This one came courtesy of Trailer Park, the company that made the second Suicide Squad trailer that showed the movie's substantial change of pace. By the time test screening began, multiple cuts were shown, and a final version made up of each cut was sent to theaters. Ayer has been candid in discussing how the film that audiences saw was very different from his original vision for Suicide Squad, which he imagined as a grimier, bad-boys-on-a-mission caper with R-rated violence. While Suicide Squad made its money, the film was heavily criticized for its disted tone, incoherent editing, and the obvious disarray caused by those reshoots.
Suicide Squad's Reshoot Changes Prove The DCEU's Lack of Plan
Not every franchise needs to be planned like the MCU. What Marvel Studios pulled off with that saga is a one-in-a-million case that partly happened out of luck since few people had any real hopes of world-domination success for the series when it began over a decade ago. The DCEU’s attempts to replicate that mold, all while playing a major game of catch-up, meant that Warner Bros. couldn’t help but stumble. They were also hampered by their overall hesitation to truly commit to what they set up. There are obvious benefits to being able to make changes to a series to reflect audience tastes, but the DCEU changed track so quickly and publicly, and there’s only so much one can do with reshoots and some neon credits.
The treatment of Leto's Joker is a testament to their lack of long-term franchise planning. Warner Bros. spent months building up Leto in that role, hyping him as the brand new clown prince of crime and advertising his Method commitment to the process, yet he's in the final product for less than 15 minutes and could be removed entirely without affecting the story. Ayer itted on Twitter that the timeline-breaking detail of Harley being part of the Joker's role in killing Robin was added in post-production by Geoff Johns, who was the head of DC Films at the time. This hugely important detail was shoehorned in, all while the Joker was all but excluded from the wider narrative of the movie. At best, it is a curious creative decision to make.
The final product of Suicide Squad is partly a result of the panic of Warner Bros. The story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, the editing is near-dizzying in its messiness, the humor is obviously shoehorned in thanks to reshoots, and the neon overlays are at odds with Ayer’s pre-established grim style. While Batman v Superman may inspire more critical ire and Justice League’s troubles were more legendary (and garnered far more Joker and Birds of Prey, and of course, the The Suicide Squad. It's just a shame that the messes they left behind with their panic are so disastrous, even by Hollywood's standards.
