You've heard the saying, there's no such thing as bad publicity. When you woke up on Tuesday, you heard that there was a new trailer coming for The Suicide Squad. Then you found out it was only going to be via a YouTube ad. That led to calls from the cast and director James Gunn for the trailer to be released. That galvanized fans even more before Warner Bros. finally "caved" and released the trailer. So, before I continue, take a look at it.
So let's be honest, this was clearly a stunt from all parties involved. They just didn't know at the time just how well it would work. Releasing a trailer only as an ad was always going to be a bad idea, and everyone knew that. It also fed the keyboard warriors and social media outrage to pump up said trailer moreso than if they had actually just up and released it. There would have been hype either way, but executing it in this fashion only raised it. Then, when the trailer finally was released, there was a manufactured sense of satisfaction. That was no accident, in my opinion.
That then led into the "kryptonite bullet" drama that followed with Idris Elba's Bloodsport. I won't get into that, other than saying it might help to read a comic or two before getting outraged. It's hard to deny that the marketing for The Suicide Squad might be one of, if not the best marketing job for a DC film to date. This trailer was talked about for almost a full day, and not because of some cameo or headline character being revealed. It was because they pushed all of the right buttons.
I'm not saying that there wasn't already hype for The Suicide Squad. I think that the presence of James Gunn alone has a lot of fans interested that might not have been otherwise. Throw in a great ensemble cast, some humor and great action, and you're checking all of the right boxes. I'm just saying that it's easy to get people to want to watch a Batman movie, or another Justice League member. The Suicide Squad is generating that kind of attention, and their villain is a mind-controlling starfish. I know how dangerous Starro is, but to the casual fan, he's no Joker and he's no Lex Luthor. I know that's a good thing, but not everyone does.
Whether you're seeing it in theaters or same day on HBO Max, you can see The Suicide Squad beginning August 6, 2021. Be sure to check back for my full review closer to the release date. I'm sure that we're not done with the updates either, so keep checking back for those as well.
Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures