A Deep Analysis of the New 'Suicide Squad' Trailer 

A new Suicide Squad trailer has dropped, giving us more information about the squad and set to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

It gives us a lot more plot details to go off of, as well as grounds for which to judge the characters. Let’s break it down.

Belle Reve prison is not the most humane

Shutting people in boxes — that’s some shady Guantanamo Bay shit. Or at the very least, Matilda.

Right away, it signifies that, while this squad might be comprised of the Worst Heroes Ever, the good side isn’t exactly altruistic.

Tea is available, though

Seriously, look at that dye job. Having technicolor hair is no joke, it takes maintenance and frequent touch-ups to keep its luster. More on Harley’s character in a bit, but so far, we can’t blame her for smiling. Her prison life looks downright cushy. Any guesses what she could be reading?

Deadshot’s not so lucky

No tea and hair upkeep for Will Smith’s Deadshot — “The guy who shoots people,” Rick Flagg’s voiceover helpfully explains.

His cell also looks far gloomier than Harley’s. From this, we can surmise that he’s deemed more dangerous. This is some maximum security shit — though at least he’s got a conveniently located window that allows him to look into a middle distance pondering the rain. From Will Smith’s comments, we can surmise that he’s thinking about his daughter and also wondering how Harley Quinn keeps her hair so shiny.

This prison really isn’t looking so bad, actually

Not only do they supply Harley with hair dye and afternoon tea, they also let El Diablo — “the guy who burns people,” thanks Rick Flagg — have access to guyliner. Really, this is looking more like Halden Prison than Alcatraz.

Like Deadshot, Diablo is also deep in thought, probably pondering his sudden and inevitable death.

Captain Boomerang sure seems like a stable guy

More on the Joker in a bit, but so far, Captain Boomerang is putting on a more impressive performance as a real unstable wild card to watch out for. We can’t really blame him for going crazy when they transport him in a body bag. He’s definitely had some oxygen deprivation to his brain.

As far as dramatic entrances go, Captain Boomerang is in the lead. Later in the trailer, we see him drinking on the job, but they really should have expected that after transporting him in a sack.

Perhaps we spoke too soon about Belle Reve not looking so bad

Torture and waterboarding and enough secret commandos to make Buffy’s Initiative look tame — so far, it looks like Deadshot is getting the worst treatment.

Killer Croc eats people

Rick Flagg also helpfully tells us that the scaly green guy eats people, which fits our theory that his only role in the movie is to look dramatic and be inevitable cannon-fodder. We can pretty much bet that Rick Flagg’s line about Killer Croc is more verbose than Croc will be for the entire movie, and this is pretty much all we will ever know about him.

The Enchantress is the villain

“Possessed by a witch,” says Rick Flagg. The trailer doesn’t outright clarify that the Enchantress is the villain — in fact, she’s barely in it — but her silence is loud; her absence suspicious. Take note of the squad assembled: The Enchantress and the Joker are both nowhere to be seen.

Also, as we watch the squad skulk around abandoned cityscapes, we can see the Enchantress’s magical black goop — not to be confused with the Hunger Games: Mockingjay’s’s black goop — clinging to pillars. Anyone who has seen a superhero movie knows that goop is bad news and you should never touch it.

The Enchantress and her magical minions are clearly the threat the Squad is fighting. The Joker, meanwhile is not the threat, he’s just … kind of there. But more on that in a bit.

Hollywood is still trying to make Scott Eastwood a thing

Scott Eastwood is the Fetch of the movie industry: They keep trying to make him happen, and they just don’t get that it’s not going to happen. Will Suicide Squad be the thing that tips him into being A Thing? This will inevitably be the most burning question as we await its release.

Let’s Talk about Harley Quinn now

With Harley Quinn, Margot Robbie seems to be going for a Hannibal Lecter-meets-Drusilla vibe, infused with a dash of balls-to-the-wall mugging a la Eddie Redmayne from Jupiter Ascending and Keanu Reeves in Much Ado About Nothing. Now, her casting initially caused skeptics — myself among them — to question Suicide Squad’s choices. For a movie that’s advertising itself as edgy, its casting seems far too safe and boring: Will Smith playing a cool guy who shoots guns; a pretty actress without a particularly strong screen presence playing Harley Quinn. Harley demands a more dynamic, magnetic actress like Natalie Dormer. But Margot Robbie, at least in the course of two minutes and thirty-one seconds, is stepping up to the plate and selling the hell out of Harley Quinn.

Her outfit might be bullshit Hot Topic girl and deviate from the comics, but that expression is all Harley. It’s about time somebody does her justice on the big screen. She will be the scene-stealer to watch out for.

The playground will be post apocalyptic cityscapes and urban-decay porn

“This is the deal,” says Rick Flagg. “You’re going somewhere very bad and doing something that’ll get you killed.” It looks like they’ll be doing some urban exploring while they’re at it.

Rick Flagg is over this shit

Rick Flagg, helpful narrator and plot-deliverer is the film’s biggest wildcard: He initially seems like a square military type, but he’s crazy enough to vouch for this band of miscreants. Also, Tom Hardy wanted to play him, so he’s not just some boring guy. Above, that is not the face of a guy who takes anybody’s shit. Rick Flagg being over this shit is going to be the meme of the summer.

The Joker is underwhelming

By far the weakest link in the trailer, Jared Leto’s joker has been shrouded in mystery and provoked wild speculation. Maybe he’s better in the film itself, but, at least in this trailer, he’s not making the character his own. Of all the iconic characters in this movie, Joker has the longest cultural shadow; the biggest shoes to fill. Especially because Heath Ledger took the Joker by the throat and redefined the character with the definitive performance of the century. It would be hard for anyone to follow that act, but so far it looks like Leto is barely trying. Sure, he’s got a new look with some tattoos and weird teeth, but even the way he talks looks like he’s just doing a Dark Knight impression. If Heath Ledger hadn’t preceded him, this might look like it’s crackling with unpredictable energy, but right now it’s a big yawn.

Also, setting these knives up so precisely hardly reeks of chaos.

The Joker’s whole point is utter chaos. When he burned money in the Dark Knight, when he sowed distrust among Gotham’s citizens — that’s what the Joker is all about. How long did it take to set up those knives? An agent of chaos is not about sitting for hours to make painstaking crop circles out of silverware.

David Ayer can’t resist going back to his roots

All that being said about the Joker, he’s got a sweet new ride that glows, hearkening back to David Ayer’s previous project, The Fast and the Furious. A street race between the Joker and Batman? We wouldn’t say no to that. The Fast and Furious movies are all about baby got back to a comical degree, so it should be no surprise that there are also some lovingly lingering shots of assess. We won’t screenshot because we’re polite like that, but it’s towards the very end. Ayer is being Ayer.

There will be lots of pyrotechnics

Ejaculating heliocopters

Miscellaneous explosions.

And fire jazz-hands because why not.

This movie is like if Michael Bay and Baz Luhrmann had a baby.

All in all, this trailer clarifies that Suicide Squad is taking a departure from DC’s typical gloom-and-doom pastiche to deliver a zanier picture with fire jazzhands, tongue-and cheek one liners, and a motley crew of sordid characters. As unlikely as it seems, Suicide Squad might just be the comedy of the summer.