So much like Justice League there was the set visits, however this time they are being released just a month before release, which would be the norm. Anyway there was of course a lot of information released and shared across the internet. To kick off the articles I’ll be writing, here are a lot of pointers about the film compiled by the folks over at Collider.
Some general history and some things about the key ideas and costumes:
They began talking about the Expanded Universe while they were making Man of Steel, but Suicide Squad wasn’t firmed up until David Ayer pitched his take on the material.
The present day story of Suicide Squad takes place after the events of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, and is connected to Batman v Superman “in many ways.”
The film has a fractured narrative, with a number of flashbacks that reveal more of The Joker and Harley Quinn’s relationship in the world of casinos and gangsters.
The Joker as a character was on the table, but they didn’t want to move forward with him until they had a part worthy of a great actor and a great actor who would play the part.
The film is a true ensemble, but Deadshot is the proverbial leader and Ayer says “this is really Will Smith’s movie.”
Enchantress’ costume designs are all rooted in North American history.
There’s a scene in one of Joker’s clubs in which he has gold go-go dancers all wearing Batman masks.
There’s a reinvention in the film of the moment from the comics with the traditional Joker in the black-and-white tailcoat holding Harley.
They explored the design of Harley Quinn thoroughly before settling on the final costume, even going so far as to mock up the original jester’s costume.
The female-dominated costume department were big fans of this iteration of Harley Quinn, who in many ways is an alpha right alongside Joker, and they started out with a motto for her as a dominant woman: “People like you need to fuck people like me.”
One of the early ideas for Joker’s tattoos was that Harley Quinn had tattooed him, sort of scribbling on him while he was out of it one night.
One of the first things costume designer Kate Hawley was asked to work on was Joker’s ring, which is like a papal ring. Some of the Joker’s design was inspired by bespoke Mexican cartel leaders.
In terms of design, Ayer wanted all of the Suicide Squad to come from a very gritty, real-based urban world, with Joker at the top of the criminal underworld tree.
Before they started shooting the outdoor Batmobile scenes, they paraded it up and down the street so all the fans who had lined up could get their pictures out of the way.
They chose to shoot the outdoor Batmobile scenes knowing full well set photos and videos would leak, but they didn’t want to compromise the integrity of practical effects and using real streets.
Putting Batman in the film was David Ayer’s idea and desire, because he has such a strong connection to so many of the characters in Belle Reve.
The second unit director is Guy Norris, who worked on Mad Max: Fury Road.
They made an effort to make real, full-bodied characters instead of simply straight-up villains, but some will be more redeemable than others.
The “adversaries” in the film are being kept under wraps, but the producers hinted that they may not actually be pulling their own levers.
While on set, the producers stressed that the film has a tremendous sense of humour as a result of putting this dysfunctional family together.
Ayer chose which members of the Squad would be in the movie. There was no mandate from the studio. But he did collaborate with Geoff Johns when it came to crafting certain stories for some of the characters.
Scott Eastwood plays a Navy SEAL that’s part of the main mission alongside the Suicide Squad, not a comics character.
Midway City—a city so named because it falls midway between Gotham and Metropolis—figures into the film.Harley Quinn:
For comics research, Margot Robbie sought out as many Harley Quinn comics as she could and then used the comics she got for Christmas, right after she got the role, to prepare.
To justify Harley Quinn’s twisted relationship with The Joker, Robbie settled on co-dependency and compulsion as what drives her to keep going back to him.
In rehearsals, David Ayer would push Robbie to jump on any weak spots her co-stars revealed and increase the tension as Harley Quinn, which is the opposite of what Robbie herself wanted to do.
The intense rehearsal process consisted of Ayer pulling out deeply personal aspects of each actor to fully flesh out their characters.
Harley Quinn is “nuts” when she’s with the Joker, but when she’s interacting with the rest of the Suicide Squad without Joker, Robbie says she’s “a little more focused.”
Kinnaman’s Rick Flagg :
Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flagg is described as the “right hand man” of Amanda Waller.
Kinnaman gained 30 pounds in two months to beef up to play the character.
Will Smith’s Deadshot:
Deadshot is in his mask for a fair amount of time of the film.
David Ayer wrote the character of Deadshot for Will Smith.
Diablo’s fire powers are a mix of practical and CG effects.
Diablo’s prison cell can be flooded if he starts to light up.
Adewale’s Killer Croc:
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje had to practice a lot in the mirror with his Killer Croc mask to figure out how intensely he needed to push out his facial expressions
When creating the look of Killer Croc, Ayer and Akinnuoye-Agbaje wanted to ground him in reality as much as possible, so many of the skin tones are blended with the actor’s real skin tones.
The full body Killer Croc makeup took six hours to put on.
For research, Akinnuoye-Agbaje went down to the everglades in Fort Lauderdale to watch and videotape crocodiles. This lead to him developing signature moves for his character when he launches into his prey.
Akinnuoye-Agbaje developed a specific walk for Killer Croc that is sinuous, almost as if he’s moving through water.
During filming, Akinnuoye-Agbaje deliberately kept himself away from the cast so that they would be wary of him.
Killer Croc has a Bronx accent. Akinnuoye-Agbaje worked with a dialogue coach.
Katana:
Karen Fukuhara, who plays Katana, said she read through the Katana comics and Birds of Prey to prepare, but she added, “I come from a very Japanese family so it wasn’t that hard to understand her as a person.”
Katana will have her Soultaker sword and yes, she speaks to it.
To audition for Katana, Fukhara had to perform a monologue and then do both a martial arts demonstration and a sword fighting demonstration.
Katana’s backstory involving her family isn’t explicitly addressed in the film, but the soul of her husband is in her sword and she does have conversations with it.
Katana has a strong bond with Rick Flagg.
The back of Katana’s jacket says “Soultaker”, and her costume is covered with calligraphy that means “A Thousand Years,” “Soultaker,” and “For Him I Weep.”
It feels good to be bad… Assemble a team of the world’s most dangerous, incarcerated Super Villains, provide them with the most powerful arsenal at the government’s disposal, and send them off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do. However, once they realize they weren’t picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they inevitably fail, will the Suicide Squad resolve to die trying, or decide it’s every man for himself?
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, an Atlas Entertainment production, a film by David Ayer, “Suicide Squad.” The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The film opens worldwide in 3D, and in 2D, and in select IMAX 3D theaters beginning August 5, 2016.
Source: Collider
