During the development of the Suicide Squad movie, based on the DC Comics title of the same name and one of the first flicks to define the DC Cinematic Universe, nothing has been said about Batman. Even though the protagonists of the film — who are in reality villains, coerced into working for the government — are mostly associated with the Dark Knight, it's never been suggested or implied that the Bat himself would show up for the movie.
Given that Batman is being played by Ben Affleck, who undoubtedly signed a multi-film contract with Warner Bros. before taking part in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, the star putting in an appearance in Suicide Squad would be a pretty big deal, even if it's just a cameo.
Potential spoilers below.
A new report from Latino Review's Umberto Gonzalez, aka "El Mayimbe," suggests that Warner Bros. has found a clever way to include Batman in Suicide Squad without requiring any actual work from Affleck. Gonzalez has been posting bite-sized spoilers for various film projects on Instagram of late, and this one is no exception.
His sources have told him that Batman is considered "some sort of big boogeyman" in Suicide Squad, aka a story told by villains to others of their ilk to scare them. The government has never managed to track him down or have a conversation with him, but they do have some footage of him in action (which we posit will likely be leftover B-roll from Batman v. Superman).
The report also explains one lingering mystery surrounding the plot. We've known for a while that Amanda Waller, played by Viola Davis in the film, will be the lynchpin that brings the Squad together. And comics fans know that Waller is a bigwig in the espionage world, technically a high-powered operative for the U.S. government, but always working her own angle to amass more power. (For the Marvel fans: she's like an evil Nick Fury or Tony Stark.) What we never quite understood is why anyone in their right mind putting together a black ops group made up of known criminals would even consider adding the Joker to that team.
Despite his many interpretations in film, television and comics, Joker has consistently been portrayed as wildly unstable. He's a criminal mastermind, to be certain, but he's a pathological liar, he has no regard for human life, and happily violates other basic morals that even hardcore criminals might balk at. We know very little about Jared Leto's version of Joker in Suicide Squad, but we're assuming based on Leto's skills, appearance and body type that he'll be closer to the comic book Joker than Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson.
Latino Review's Gonzalez says that he's heard that what makes the Joker a priority for Amanda Waller is that he's the only person alive who's known to have met Batman in person. The government is keen on keeping tabs on these various superheroes that are starting to appear, and Waller believes that Batman is the key to finding them all. Oh, and the government "really hates" Batman.
This incarnation of Amanda Waller must be early in her career and awfully naïve if she seriously thinks the Joker would ever willingly assist her. He's far more likely to play mind games with her for his own amusement.
Does this give us an indication as to what purpose the Squad is put together for? Might they exist to track down Batman and discover his true identity? Or perhaps even frame or discredit him? Could this revelation about the Joker mean that he might turn up in some way in Batman v. Superman?
Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 5, 2016.
A photo posted by Umberto Gonzalez (@umbertogonzalez) on Mar 16, 2015 at 6:01am PDT
Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page.
