The Suicide Squad (film)

The Suicide Squad is a 2021 American superhero film based on the DC Comics team Suicide Squad. It is a standalone sequel to Suicide Squad (2016) and the tenth film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film was written and directed by James Gunn and stars an ensemble cast including Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, and Pete Davidson. In the film, several convicts join a task force known as the "Suicide Squad" in exchange for lighter sentences. They are sent to the South American island nation of Corto Maltese to destroy all traces of the giant alien starfish Starro the Conqueror before it falls into the local government's control.

Warner Bros. originally hired Gavin O'Connor to direct. However, O'Connor left due to creative differences, and Gunn was hired to write and direct the film after being temporarily fired by Disney and Marvel Studios as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). He drew inspiration from war films and John Ostrander's 1980s Suicide Squad comics. Filming took place from September 2019 to February 2020, primarily in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as in Colón, Panama, and Porto, Portugal. The film had the biggest sets ever built for a Warner Bros. production.

The Suicide Squad premiered theatrically in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2021, and was released in the United States on August 5, simultaneously in theaters and on the streaming service HBO Max. Unlike its predecessor, the film received positive reviews from critics and became the most-streamed DCEU film on HBO Max. Nevertheless, the film underperformed at the box office, grossing $168.7 million worldwide against a $185 million production budget. Its box office performance was attributed to factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the film's availability on HBO Max, and its relationship to the first Suicide Squad. Peacemaker, a spin-off television series starring Cena, debuted on HBO Max in January 2022, and Waller, another television series starring Davis, is in development for Max.