The Suicide Squad: Release Date, Plot, And More

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Director James Gunn jumps from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to DC with The Suicide Squad, a sequel to David Ayer's much-loathed Suicide Squad. While Gunn has brought several of the cast members from the first film back, The Suicide Squad feels like a fresh start. Here's everything you need to know about The Suicide Squad before it opens.

The Suicide Squad release date is set for August 6, 2021.

Yes! While The Suicide Squad is opening in theaters on August 6, it will also be available on HBO Max for 31 days from theatrical release.

Both? Technically, this is a sequel. Several of the cast members from the first movie are back, and none of them seem to be acting as if the first movie didn't happen. But at the same time, this feels like a reboot, or at the very least, a course correction.

Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today's do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone's favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave...and Amanda Waller's government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they're dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone's laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.

Okay, hunker down, because this cast is big.

The Suicide Squad stars Margot Robbie as Dr. Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn; Idris Elba as Robert DuBois / Bloodsport; John Cena as Peacemaker; Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag; Viola Davis as Amanda Waller; Jai Courtney as George "Digger" Harkness / Captain Boomerang; Peter Capaldi as the Thinker; David Dastmalchian as Abner Krill / Polka-Dot Man; Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2; Michael Rooker as Savant; Alice Braga as Sol Soria; Pete Davidson as Richard "Dick" Hertz / Blackguard; Nathan Fillion as Floyd Belkin / T.D.K.; Sean Gunn as Weasel; Flula Borg as Javelin; Mayling Ng as Mongal; and, last, but certainly not least, Sylvester Stallone as the voice of King Shark (Steve Agee stood in for character on set). Taika Waititi is part of the cast, too, but we still don't know who he's playing.

James Gunn is the director of The Suicide Squad and he also wrote the script. Gunn's other credits include the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Super, and Slither. Like his pre-Marvel work, The Suicide Squad will be gnarly and R-rated, effectively bridging both the early and later portions of his career.