DC FanDome's panel for The Suicide Squad featured director James Gunn as the host of a game show testing the knowledge and survival skills of Margot Robbie and other cast members. However, the panel also offered fans their first official look at the anticipated DC supervillain team's latest cinematic outing with a behind-the-scenes featurette.
While Warner Bros. and DC's Suicide Squad was a success at the box office, grossing a worldwide total of $746.8 million, reactions from moviegoers were mixed-to-negative upon its release in August 2016. While director David Ayer originally intended to return to the director's chair for the sequel, the filmmaker eventually left the project to work on Gotham City Sirens, one of the multiple projects being developed at the time for Margot Robbie to reprise her role as Harley Quinn. In 2018, Gunn was hired to write and direct a new take on the Suicide Squad just months after being fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 by Disney due to controversial social media posts he wrote years before.
DC FanDome's panel for The Suicide Squad opened with Gunn taking questions from fans, where he confirmed previously undisclosed of multiple cast members. In addition to returning favorites Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, The Suicide Squad will introduce newcomers David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, Steve Agee as the on-set King Shark and John Economos, Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, Storm Reid as Tyla, Flula Borg as Javeline, Nathan Fillion as TDK, Peter Capaldi as Thinker, Pete Davidson as Blackguard, Alice Braga as Sol Soria, Sean Gunn as Weasel, Michael Rooker as Savant, JoaquÃn CosÃo as Mayor General Mateo Suarez, Mayling Ng as Mongal, Juan Diego Botto as Presidente General Silvio Luna, and Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt.
The panel also featured a new behind-the-scenes video offering fans their first glimpse at some of the exciting action sequences and locations featured in The Suicide Squad. "This one is completely unique. This is a gritty 1970s war movie combined with the brilliance of James Gunn's characters and comedy," producer Peter Safran said of what to expect from the tone of The Suicide Squad. While the behind-the-scenes preview provided a first look at new costumes for the team, the filmmakers urged fans not to become too attached to certain characters or assume they know what to expect. Dastmalchian said, "As soon as you have some sense about what's to happen next, James comes in."
Production on The Suicide Squad began in 2019 at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, before moving to Panama for a month and wrapping in February 2020. However, fans need not be concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic having an impact on The Suicide Squad, for the time being, as Gunn edited the film from home during quarantine and recently confirmed The Suicide Squad will receive a theatrical release unless there is no other option.
Fans who were disheartened after James Gunn was removed from the director's chair of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will also be relieved to know the filmmaker had since been rehired. However, Gunn will not resume work on the Marvel Studios film until he completes The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros. and DC.
The Suicide Squad will be released in theaters on August 6, 2021.