Four Crossed Logs: Super psyched for 'Suicide Squad'

This summer is loaded with must-see movies, such as “The Conjuring 2,” “Independence Day: Resurgence,” “The Legend of Tarzan,” “Star Trek Beyond” and “The Shallows.” It has me so excited to be alive as a movie-lover, but there is one movie that I anticipate the most and has me the most excited I think I have ever been for a movie. On Aug. 5, Warner Brother and DC Comic’s “Suicide Squad” will premiere in theaters and most likely will blow my mind with its awesomeness. (Is that a word? I don’t care I’m using it.)

For those unaware of “Suicide Squad,” it is a comic book movie (yes we’re getting another one) from DC Comics that many believe will follow the events of what transpired in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” Now, with no prior knowledge of the film (obviously I haven’t seen it yet) other than meticulously watching trailer breakdowns from bigger nerds than me and from reading endless news on the movie from fans and from the actual guys making the movie, I am pretty confident this story has nothing to do with the Batman v Superman story. It is in the same universe and will possibly have some of the same characters, writers, producers, etc., but “Suicide Squad” will be its own story and will share only minor details of Batman v Superman to show their correlation in the same universe and timeframe. The film will be produced by WB, just as Batman v Superman, and is in the same DC cinematic universe as I said before. It’s already been confirmed that Ben Affleck will be making a small cameo in this movie. As some of us know, at least those that have seen Batman v Superman, Affleck portrayed Bruce Wayne/Batman, and he will be in “Suicide Squad” as the same character, just in a smaller role, one would think.

As for the movie’s plot, it seems to follow along the comic book guidelines while mixing in new sequences and twists to make this story an original, which will make many comic book readers pretty happy. The film centers on several super villains in the DC universe, which is a nice twist since most, if not all, comic book movies focus on the heroes. These villains are all locked up in their respective prisons and asylums, serving mostly life sentences, when the leader of the secret government agency known as A.R.G.U.S. (Armed Revolutionaries Governing Under Secrecy) somehow pulls enough strings with the U.S. government and military to release these prisoners to their supervision. Amanda Waller (played by Viola Davis), the leader of A.R.G.U.S., wants to use these “bad people” for good. She bribes the villains to perform highly dangerous military black op missions and places them with forces from her own private military under the leadership of Rick Flag (played by Joel Kinnaman). They are an expendable military force, called, the Suicide Squad.

The Suicide Squad

The variety of villains which are a part of the Suicide Squad is pretty vast. Some are complex characters with some pretty astonishing powers, some are just highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and others are masters of their own craft. The members of the Squad for this particular movie are Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, El Diablo, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and Slipknot.

Harley Quinn (played by Margot Robbie), formerly known as Dr. Harleen F. Quinzel, was an Arkham Asylum psychiatrist for the criminally insane before she was brainwashed and tortured by one inmate whom she fell in love with. Many know him to be Batman’s arch enemy, The Joker. Harley is a gymnast who is skilled in the art of manipulation, and she is a master of utilizing weaponized props and gadgets. She is, above all, a highly trained psychiatrist and her mind is still her most valuable weapon.
Killer Croc (played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), formally known as Waylon Jones, is a man who suffers from a very rare skin condition that turns his skin reptile-like and transfigures his teeth razor sharp, which gives him a crocodilian appearance. He has super-human strength, heightened senses, a near unstoppable rage and, above all else, the innate abilities of a crocodile (yes, he eats people).
El Diablo (played by Jay Hernandez), formerly known as Chato Santana, is a pyrokinetic and is rumored to be demon-possessed or to have been raised from the dead. His abilities are being able to conjure, control and manipulate fire.
Captain Boomerang (played by Jai Courtney), formerly known as George "Digger" Harkness has the ability to create boomerangs out of pure energy and has an arsenal of gimmicked boomerangs. His abilities seem kind of lame, but he is expected to be a comedic relief for the film, so we’ll see how he works out.
Deadshot (played by Will Smith), formerly known as Floyd Lawton, is an expert marksman and tactician, particularly known never to miss a target, skilled in hand-to-hand combat and bilingual. He is commonly known as a hired assassin who uses a cybernetic eye – which helps increase his already near-perfect accuracy – wrist-mounted guns that fire magnum bullets and his notorious sniper rifle.
Slipknot (played by Adam Beach), formerly known as Christopher Weiss, is a former chemist who constructed some uncanny ropes that are unbreakable, which he uses to maim, hang, hold or attack his adversaries.

The villians

Since most of the film is filled with super villains, it is only assumable that whatever forces the Suicide Squad are hired to get rid of has to be at a higher level of evil. There still is no clear indication to who that evil entity is. Many rumors that are surfacing are pointing toward three characters as the main villain: The Joker, Enchantress or The Tattooed-Man. My theory (my wish) is that all three are connected or together in some form or fashion. If only two of the three are connected, it would still be very exciting.

Me in my two new Suicide Squad T-shirts:
Joker’s body tattoos and Joker himself

The Joker (played by Jared Leto) is the main adversary to Batman and will be portrayed very differently than other cinematic or comic book Jokers have been in the past. He still looks to be the psychotic, murdering, evil clown that gets pleasure in terrorizing and tormenting the innocent, but his outward appearance has gone astray from the classic Joker-look. This Joker is portrayed as a mob boss dressed like a Mexican cartel drug lord, which includes his expressive tattoos covering nearly his whole body and gaudy jewelry consisting of rings, gold watches, necklaces, and a grill (pretty much jewelry for your teeth). However he may look, this new Joker still looks to be as crazy and dangerous as any of the others. His role in the film is still unknown to be either all flashbacks for Harley Quinn or if it’s a combination of flashbacks and present appearances. Either way, I am most excited about his presence in the movie.
Enchantress (played by Cara Delevingne), formerly known as June Moon, is possessed by an evil spirit who is known to be the actual Enchantress. She has no limits to her magical abilities, which include any known or unknown magical powers in and above this world. She is never seen with any of the other members of the Suicide Squad, other than Rick Flag, which I am assuming is a love interest. Though none of her powers have been seen in any of the footage, there are strong indications that most of the damage done to the abandoned cities the Squad visits is done by her. There are other rumors and theories that she is a last-minute resort for the U.S. government if the Suicide Squad should fail. Many of her scenes in the trailers show her in the White House with military and government officials. She’s also being rumored of resurrecting her brother Incubus, who is just as powerful, in order for them to destroy/rule the planet together. Since I don’t known squat about him, I am not going into further detail with this theory. In my opinion, if she is the main villain that the Squad is expected to bring down, I would say they are heavily outmatched and don’t stand a chance of bringing her down without some serious juice.
Lastly, The Tattooed-Man/Monster T (played by Common) is a former marine who was captured by a wild tribe of savages who eventually kills off all of his comrades and trains him for evil doings. He has the insane ability of projecting real-life images off of his tattoos, which he manipulates for anything he can think of doing. It has been said that his role in the movie is that he is strictly in business with The Joker and has no other affiliations. Many weird possible sightings of him in the trailers may say otherwise, but it is very unclear if that is truly him or not. My prediction for his role is that he is in business with The Joker — that part is obvious from the trailers and from what Common has said — and he is going to teach The Joker how to manipulate his own tattoos for his evil purposes in exchange for something, just like he was taught. This is a theory that has never been surfaced, not that I’ve seen anyway, so if it’s true I said it first right here. But seriously, if any of these three characters are the main villain of the film, I’ll be excited. If there’s someone else I don’t even know about who just comes out of nowhere as the main antagonist, I will be ecstatic.

Other characters

Katana (played by Karen Fukuhara) known also as Tatsu Yamashiro, is a superb martial artist who is fully trained as a samurai warrior in every sense of the word. Her sword she wields is known as The Soultaker and it literally consumes the souls of the ones it has killed. It is said that she has the soul of her dead husband and she has the bizarre ability to communicate with any soul residing in her sword. She is not initially a part of the Suicide Squad and is considered to be a hero in the comics; she is hired to keep Rick Flag safe from the other members.
Johnny Frost (played by Jim Parrack), is, as far as I know, just the bodyguard and evil henchman to The Joker. I am unaware of any abilities he may have, I just know he is a low-level thug who is The Joker’s right-hand man. Like he needs one.
As for Ike Barinholtz's characer, his name hasn’t been released, but he is seen in several of the trailers as the captain of the prison guard Belle Reve Prison where most of the Suicide Squad is being detained. He may also be in one scene that looks like he has just been captured or is being held captive by The Joker and his men (I wouldn’t want to be him if that is him).
Scott Eastwood’s character is still the biggest mystery to me and to most fans waiting for the movie. His character’s name has not been released, and he hasn’t had much screen time in any of the trailers. He is only seen with the special military force hired by Amanda Waller surrounding the Suicide Squad. All he does is stare at them and is shown eventually fist-bumping another officer. Many rumors have been said of who he might be, but nothing has been confirmed. He is said to be either Nightwing/Dick Grayson, who is the first Robin sidekick of Batman’s; Deathstroke/Slade Wilson, who is pretty much a masked assassin similar to Deadshot; or just a random military officer who has no significance whatsoever. I don’t think he’s a large enough actor to handle the Nightwing role, although he does fit the character description fairly well. If so, he would eventually be paired up Ben Affleck for some Batman and Nightwing fight scenes. He is too young to be Deadshot, who is supposed to be an older man in his late 50s, but they may have the character be portrayed younger. It doesn’t really matter who he is; I’m excited to see him regardless in the film.

I feel like this movie is going to be epic beyond all reason and will rock the box office numbers, which will eventually help Warner Brothers’ transition into more “Suicide Squad” movies and eventual spin-offs.

Suicide Squad is rated PG-13, and will hit theaters Aug, 5.