Board Thread:DC Universe Discussion/@comment-3974095-20130611233337/@comment-1895174-20150724042429

Ratrangerm wrote: Are all the characters on the Squad, or just a few? Based on the promo material, it appears the members of the Squad are: Rick Flagg, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Enchantress, Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc, Katana, El Diablo, and Slipknot.

Not that you really get a sense of that from the trailer, much less what their names are. (Seriously, none of the characters are even named in the trailer.) Compare that to the first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy. You know, that other comic book movie starring a bunch of roguish characters who came together in prison and had limited name recognition. Just look at how it starts. Djimon Hounsou corners Chris Pratt and asks who he is. When he answers with "Star-Lord," Hounsou has the same confused response a lot of the people watching that trailer for the first time also had. Most of that trailer is dedicated to introducing the five main characters, correctly assuming most people don't know who these characters are to begin with.

The only saving grace here is that this isn't really a trailer, I guess? Warner Bros. didn't intend to release this to a general audience, but instead to the people at Comic Con, to the people who would know who El Diablo is or are at least sitting next to somebody does. This is more a proof of concept than it is an actual trailer; something to whet the appetites of the people already looking forward to the movie rather than try and sell it to a general audience. That's probably why WB through such a hissy-fit when the thing leaked.

Granted, all of that seems like a bad idea. When BvS and Deadpool and Apocalypse all came to SDCC with a trailer I don't think it's asking for too much for Suicide Squad to come with one, too. And, to be fair, I don't think it would be possible for this movie to exactly replicate GotG's trailer given there are almost twice as many characters on Task Force X than there are Guardians. But that also just seems like a bad idea, even if Slipknot is the redshirtiest redshirt who ever redshirted and doesn't need that much time in the trailer anyway.

When the real first trailer drops, I hope it dedicates more time to getting the audience familiar with the main characters, and doesn't just coast on the Joker, Will Smith, and Margot Robbie's sex appeal.