'The Suicide Squad' Red-Band Trailer Wants You to Forget About the First One

The debut, red-band trailer for James Gunn’s highly-anticipated The Suicide Squad dropped online today and the main goal seems to be doing pretty much everything it can to make you forget that the first Suicide Squad movie ever happened, with a few notable exceptions. Gunn, who is responsible for the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies, brings his signature style to the trailer, including stunning visuals, great song selection, and an eternal love for in-group fighting.

The opening of the trailer introduces us to the core members of our new suicide squad, including Idris Elba’s Bloodsport and John Cena’s Peacemaker, who are throwing quips back and forth as they prepare to break Harley Quinn (still played by Margot Robbie) out of jail but their plan falls apart when they find that she has already broken out, though she is very touched by the gesture.

From there, we are reintroduced to the basic premise: this is a group of bad (but maybe not too bad) guys who are given a mission from morally dubious government agent Amanda Waller (played again by Viola Davis). If they try to run away or go off mission, explosions in their heads are detonated. Then, we meet the rest of the Suicide Squad, which includes Pete Davidson and others but the real standout is obviously King Shark, a man-eating shark-human hybrid voiced by Sylvester Stallone.

There’s also, obviously, a bit of red-band flexing, most notably when Peacemaker discusses how he would gladly eat a bunch of dicks for liberty. Basically, the whole trailer feels designed to assure you that while Davis, Robbie, and a few others may be reprising their roles, this is not going to be like last time. Because the original Suicide Squad felt like disappointing execution of a fun premise but with Gunn at the helm, DC may just have what it takes to deliver the goods this time around.

The Suicide Squad will hit HBO Max on August 6, 2021.