Move over Batman V. Superman, the new Suicide Squad trailer has arrived

By Rick Marshall Published January 20, 2016

The impending premiere of Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice might be getting all the promotion, but Suicide Squad is fast becoming the most interesting project to come out of Warner Bros. Pictures’ comic-book universe this year.

The studio released the first full-length trailer for Suicide Squad during last night’s DC Films Presents: Dawn of the Justice League special on The CW, and the new preview combines some very cool footage with great use of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” to introduce the supervillain stars of the upcoming film.

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Directed by David Ayer (Fury), Suicide Squad follows a team of supervillains from the DC Comics universe who are forced to undertake a dangerous mission for a mysterious government agency. The film’s cast includes Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness) as Deadshot, Joel Kinnaman (RoboCop) as Rick Flagg, Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney (Divergent) as Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevingne (Anna Karenina) as Enchantress, Karen Fukuhara as Katana, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost) as Killer Croc, Jay Hernandez (Hostel) as El Diablo, Adam Beach (Flags of Our Fathers) as Slipknot, Viola Davis (The Help) as Amanda Waller, and Jared Leto (The Dallas Buyers Club) as The Joker.

Robbie’s portrayal of Joker’s psychotic paramour Harley Quinn is expected to be the standout performance of Suicide Squad, but the new trailer suggests that Leto’s Joker will have more than a cameo role in the film — which is likely to spark quite a bit of the “Who’s the best Joker?” debate when the film hits theaters.

The trailer also features quite a bit of footage featuring Terminator: Genisys star Courtney as Captain Boomerang, the Australian criminal who appears to be yet another wildcard on the already unpredictable team. In contrast, the preview offers precious little footage of Fukuhara’s Katana, who’s only seen in a brief scene holding her sword.

Suicide Squad is scheduled to arrive in theaters August 5, 2016.

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