Suicide Squad Costumes Show Us a Dark Side of Justice

By Shrey Sankalp

No, Suicide Squad costumes are not going to be the defining factor for one of the most awaited comic-based movies of the decade.  I don’t need to tell you that thanks to Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman, the future of the DCEU now rests on the shoulder of a ragtag film about ragtag people with their ragtag costumes.  But unlike cherished superhero costumes, most of the villains in this movie are hardly recognizable to the general public.

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Photo Courtesy of WikiMedia.org/CC0

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On paper, Suicide Squad looks like it will make up for past mistakes by fixing the primary concerns—tone, lack of color, deviation from comic books (seriously though, what’s up with Suicide Squad costumes? They hardly resemble the comic book costumes comic lovers hold so dearly!), but you’d do well to be cautiously optimistic.

Much like this year’s biggest gamble—and then success—of Deadpool, the marketing campaign for Suicide Squad has been restrained in terms of plot information offered and told us just the basic beats.  They introduced the characters and their controversially flashy costumes, and rather fortunately for them, it’s done the trick and got everybody buzzing.

Of course, Deadpool emphasized how comic accurate it was (especially his costume), while Suicide Squad seems to be going in the opposite direction with regard to costumes and character appearance.  But from what we’ve seen so far, the film looks like a delightfully unhinged romp with characters who are all-in and couldn’t care less; just like Deadpool. 

The film has a tremendous presence on social media, it dominates water-cooler talk, costume stores are stocking up on gaudy Suicide Squad costumes to prepare for this year’s comic-con craze—that sweeps the nation every summer—and Halloween .  We’ll see how popular those costumes turn out this year.  Suicide Squad is on track for a record August opening at the Box Office.

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It’s truly astonishing how much can be achieved with three well-edited trailers and your big daddy under-performing.

Which is where I must come in and talk to you.

When you think about it, all the talk around the film has centered on just a few things—Joker’s departure from the traditional outfit, whether Harley Quinn is good enough (plus her departure from the traditional Jester suit), how Batman plays into the film (which by the way, he seems to have the most comic accurate costume in the film), how the film is important to the future of the DCEU, what the tone of the film is going to be, and how the film deviates in terms of the looks and costumes of all of its characters.

Notice something?

There’s an alarming absence of concern regarding how the film will handle the character work or whether even have a formidable plot.

Of course, the lack of a truly original and ground-breaking plot can be forgiven as long as what’s onscreen is fun, but the character work issue remains.

David Ayer is a very competent director who has made some great films like End of Watch and Fury, and they’ve had strong, relatable characters in addition to themes concerning morality and corruption; so that’s heartening, but comic book movies are different, they’re not just dramas with flashy characters and costumes.

Nearly every character here is an iconic character—in comics—being introduced for the first time on screen, and that causes the potential for overstuffing while trying to service all of them.

Plus whatever Batman’s up to.

Having multiple threads isn’t a bad thing, but all I’m gonna say is that even Game of Thrones drops the ball at times—and that’s a 10 episode show, not a 130 minute film.

Suicide Squad Costumes May Be a Form of Suicide for the Film

Photo by Bango Games/CC BY 

My other big issue with Suicide Squad is the number of deviations from the comics in terms of costumes. Unlike other movies, these changes by the costuming dept. don’t seem to be for a specific purpose; they’re just there for the sake of “edginess” and to get people talking.

Well, they got the second part right, but I’m worried that these radical and stylized costumes will stick out on the big screen thanks to their over the top nature and they may completely backfire.

I feel this necessitates a longer discussion on the appearances of the characters, and it will follow soon enough.

To sum things up, as excited as I am about Suicide Squad thanks to its apparently over the top quasi-Tarantino tone and introducing new characters and a new version of an old one, I can’t help but be wary of the potential trip-ups that accompany the film, as mentioned above.

The film might be just around the corner, but damn if I’m not dying to know how it turns out already.