Joker, Harley Quinn, Batman, and the New 'Suicide Squad' Trailer: Teasing Out the Possible Plotlines
The Dark Knight just crashed the Suicide Squad’s party. In the new trailer premiering on Sunday night’s MTV Movie Awards, we got our longest look yet at Batman’s appearance in this summer’s supervillain showcase. (Watch it above.)
Piecing together the new images with clips from the earlier trailers, statements made by Zack Snyder (director of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and master of the DC cinematic universe), and plots from key comics, we can glean hints not just about the Suicide Squad storyline, but also about the in-the-works standalone film featuring Ben Affleck’s Caped Crusader.
Related: David Ayer Slams ‘Suicide Squad’ Reshoot Speculation
The Bat sequence unveiled in the MTV trailer is the spruced-up version of shaky fan-spy footage captured on the Toronto set last year. Those initial clips revealed the Batmobile chasing the Joker (Jared Leto) through the streets, with Batman eventually clinging to the roof of his enemy’s supercharged ride.
Our best guess is that the Batman-Joker clash will be part of a flashback that will both tell the origin story of the Squad’s deranged bombshell Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) — and perhaps even explain why there’s a defiled Robin suit preserved in the Batcave in Batman v Superman.
First things first. Before becoming the warped Harley Quinn, she was Dr. Harleen Quinzel, a shrink obsessed with the criminal mind who wound up falling hard for the Joker. While Harley’s had a few different origins over the years, in her most recent — in DC’s New 52 continuity — she helps the Joker break out of Arkham Asylum; he twists her mentally and then physically, ultimately dumping her in the same vat of chemicals that transformed his appearance — a fitting beginning for their toxic relationship.
Soon enough, she and Mr. J. are dunzo and she winds up in the Suicide Squad.
It’s not known if Suicide Squad director David Ayers will stick to that exact origin, but in a photo from Empire magazine last fall, we do see Quinzel interrogating the Joker. Then in various earlier trailers, we see the Joker’s goons busting into Arkham to break him out, taking a very reluctant Quinzel along for the ride.
We also see the terrified doctor bound to a table…
…and being submerging in a foul-looking bubbly bath.
At some point, Batman intervenes and takes Harley away from the Joker, as seen in the most recent trailer.
Speaking to Empire last year, Ayer said Suicide Squad “is about Harley breaking free of the Joker and becoming this fully actualized, independent person. That really is a metaphor for everyone’s journey here.”
With Joker having such a prominent presence in the marketing materials — his cackle haunts the MTV trailer and he gets ample screen time — it’s hard to believe he’ll be relegated to flashbacks and exposition. Some fans believe Gotham’s Clown Prince of Crime will be the target of the Suicide Squad’s mission and read Ayer’s comment as proof of that.
Related: ‘Suicide Squad’ Mega-Photo Gallery!
So where does that leave Batman? At the end of BvS, he and Wonder Women were about to go out looking for Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg to form the Justice League. With him busy hunting meta-humans, that might explain why the Suicide Squad is called in to handle Joker.
As BvS sought to set up individual outings for the new heroes, as well as a joint Justice League movie, it’s a good bet that Suicide Squad will plant the seeds for a solo Batman adventure starring Ben Affleck. We will likely get a few tantalizing, clue-laden scenes with Batman, Joker, and Harley setting up their history. Remember that provocative shot of Robin’s suit from BvS?
Snyder told IGN that he conceived of Robin being killed about a decade before the events of BvS. The dead-sidekick plot borrows from the Death in the Family comic arc — where the torture-happy Joker seemingly kills the second Robin, Jason Todd.
Rumors have been circulating for a year that the reason Harley splits from Joker in Suicide Squad is because she was turned off by Todd’s murder.
The filmmakers could easily play out the story on screen, culminating in a live-action version of the subsequent Batman comic story Under the Red Hood. Set years later, Todd resurfaces in the guise of the deadly antihero the Red Hood and exacts his revenge on the Joker and other criminals while tangling with his former mentor.
Of course, we could be completely off base with our nerd-analysis (nerd-alysis?). Ayer has promised to throw a few curveballs into Suicide Squad. We’ll see what those are when the worst heroes ever hit theaters on Aug. 5.
