5 Years Ago, DC Released a Sequel to Its Most Embarrassing Film & Unknowingly Reset The Entire Shared Universe

It’s been an interesting decade for DC movies and shows, with the Arrowverse ending, the DC Extended Universe giving way to James Gunn’s DC Universe, and the larger film franchise undergoing a reset. That started with the sequel to the franchise’s most embarrassing film, which wasn’t necessarily intended as a soft reboot of the entire lineup. It became one anyway, though, serving as a turning point for DC’s on-screen universe. It was an effective one, too, delivering high quality as a standalone and making way for other equally impressive stories.

That sequel is celebrating its fifth anniversary, and we now have a clearer idea of how it impacted the DC Universe on a broader scale. Part sequel and part reboot, the film laid the groundwork for future projects while retaining the strongest elements of the DCEU installments before it. It also raised the bar on the franchise’s future storytelling, something that was needed after projects like the panned 2016 movie it built on.

The Suicide Squad Released in Theaters & on Streaming 5 Years Ago

The Suicide Squad released five years ago today, with the movie making its debut in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6, 2021. (Early previews started on August 5, however.) It was James Gunn’s first DC project — though it preceded him taking over the DC Universe — and felt like a fitting choice after his work on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Another movie centered on a ragtag group of criminals, The Suicide Squad took on an edgy and chaotic tone that suited its core group of characters well. It also proved a nice change of pace for DC’s movie offerings. It showed the franchise was capable of doing something different and succeeding because of it. It also made up for the embarrassing attempt at bringing the titular team to the big screen five years earlier.

The Suicide Squad Was a Better Sequel to One of DC’s Most Embarrassing Movies

While The Suicide Squad was a refreshing addition to DC’s film lineup, 2016’s Suicide Squad was its most disappointing release (or at least tied with Batman v Superman for that honor). The film had a vibrant and persistent marketing campaign, and it should’ve been an easy win with talent like Will Smith, Viola Davis, and Margot Robbie attached. Unfortunately, it proved an unpopular project, something made worse by the anticipation for it. Suicide Squad united critics and general moviegoers in their complaints, receiving a low 26% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 58% on the Popcornmeter. This was despite being a financial success and drawing nearly $750 million at the box office (via The Numbers). The demand was clearly there, even if the execution failed it.

Among the biggest complaints about Suicide Squad were the poor editing and effects, two critiques that shouldn’t be associated with a massive franchise like DC. The quality issues were frustrating enough, but everything from the dialogue to the character designs and dynamics felt cheesy. This was especially true when it came to the movie’s Joker, who was hyped up as an exciting new iteration of the character. Needless to say, fans weren’t disappointed to see the “sequel” to the film take on a whole new approach. It rebooted the story as much as it expanded it, and it unknowingly reset the DC Universe more broadly.

James Gunn’s 2021 Movie Was a Soft Reset for the DC Universe

James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad served as a sequel and a reboot for the 2016 film, bringing back a few players with potential — Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn among them — while giving them fresh storylines and companions to work with. At the time, there was no word about Gunn coming in to lead the future of DC, and this wasn’t meant to be a full reset of the interconnected universe. Yet it quietly became one, introducing the tonal shift that Gunn’s DC Universe would be known for. Characters like Peacemaker, Amanda Waller, and Rick Flag Jr. set up future stories as well, and in some cases, became iconic figures within the reset shared universe. In this regard, The Suicide Squad can be dubbed one of the most important contributions to the current DCU…even if the newest movies have mostly moved beyond it.