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Small Details You Missed In The Second Trailer For The Suicide Squad

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In a move that proves James Gunn knows exactly what he's doing, the famed filmmaker released online the second trailer for his upcoming DC feature The Suicide Squad ... on Thursday, April 1. 

Gunn confirmed on Twitter that it's not an April Fools' Day joke, as that would be a very cruel trick to play, and quipped that "the only joke here is on the supervillains who agreed to work for Amanda Waller." Those brave enough to venture into cinemas the night of Wednesday, March 31 would have seen this new trailer on the big screen, but those who still spend the majority of their time indoors have only just been blessed with more Task Force X goodness.

Like the official trailer for The Suicide Squad that Warner Bros. Pictures rolled out less than a week ago, this new bundle of footage is packed with expletive-sprinkled dialogue, eye-popping action, tasty teases of the story ahead, and, most importantly, plenty of small details, Easter eggs, and various callbacks to unpack. A lot goes on in this new Suicide Squad trailer — Gunn himself said that he wanted give fans a reason to watch two separate trailers and have each focus on "different aspects of our film" — so let's break down what you may have missed the first time watching.

Take that, Joker

In The Suicide Squad, the former aspiring Mrs. J will channel her distaste for her ex-boyfriend in various creative ways. The first official trailer for the film showed Harley Quinn sporting a "property of no one" tattoo, a clear reference to her break-up with the Joker and the fact that she's loving the single life. It also featured a scene in which the lovably kooky criminal tells the Thinker (Peter Capaldi) that if he has "personalized license plates" on any vehicle he owns, he'll die — even though it's not an agreed-upon offense or consequence for the supervillain in affiliation with Task Force X. That remark is another shot at the Joker, who was seen in 2016's Suicide Squad driving a car with a "HAHAHA" vanity plate.

Harley will kicks things up a notch by declaring her Joker hatred in the most obvious way yet: a leather jacket that reads "live fast, die clown." It's seen right at the start of the new Suicide Squad trailer (and will likely become the next big piece of movie merchandise). You know what they say: Nothing like having a toxic ex you can't stand to motivate you to live your life on your own terms.

What's the song in the new trailer for The Suicide Squad?

James Gunn has a penchant for infusing groovy tunes into his movies (need we remind you of the incredible soundtracks of both Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and Vol. 2?), so it's no surprise that this new trailer features an energetic backing track. Where the previously released Suicide Squad trailer made use of Steely Dan's "Dirty Work" to highlight what fools the members of Task Force X are to do Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and the U.S. government's dirty work, the new trailer features a cover of a hit pop song — one that should be a familiar tune to anyone who frequents sporting events.

The song in question is "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," originally by Steam. Here, it's been slowed down and given a little bit of a Western flair, if those church bells ringing in the distance are any indication. Those touches definitely indicate how Gunn wants to give off some Magnificent Seven vibes with his supervillain team-up film, and from what we've seen so far, he's definitely nailed it on the head.

But "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is more than just a catchy tune; it's also a morosely funny way of looking at the likely fates of many of the villains introduced in the trailer. They are the Suicide Squad after all, so using a song that brings up the word "goodbye" so often only seems fitting. Seeing as how DC basically gave Gunn carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with the characters, we'll probably have to say goodbye to quite a few Squad members when the film's released in theaters and on HBO Max in August.

Polka-Dot Man shows off his powers

We get our first glimpse of the weirdness that is Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) in the new trailer for The Suicide Squad, as the notorious Batman villain gives us a sneak peek of his odd — and colorful — powers. In the movie's red-band trailer released last week, we saw his signature white uniform, which is covered in — you guessed it — polka dots, but the footage didn't offer much more insight into the character. Now we know what he's capable of — and although it looks like Polka-Dot Man's skills start and stop at releasing floating polka dots into the air, it's not that simple.

Also known as Abner Krill, Polka-Dot Man controls each small dot on his costume through his utility belt. Once the dots are released from his uniform, they are able to transform into a plethora of deadly devices like buzzsaws and flares. These dots can also be used for teleportation, but it doesn't look like that's what Polka-Dot Man is using them for in the new Suicide Squad trailer. When he crouches down, he slowly releases the creepy, colorful dots into the air, and we can only assume they're about to do some serious harm to the pair of oblivious guards in front of him.

King Shark has a surprising taste in literature, and a unique way of reading books

King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone) made a big splash in the first The Suicide Squad trailer thanks to his love of gobbling people in half and his ability to recognize his own hand. The squad's resident aquatic predator/human hybrid gets plenty of attention in the second trailer, and this time fans get a bit of insight into his peculiar reading habits. 

While scenes of various Suicide Squad members in their respective prisons flash by, there's a quick shot of King Shark standing in a room full of guards and reading a book. This moment reveals to the audiences something surprising: King Shark's fluency in epistemological philosophy. A pause at just the right moment in the trailer reveals that the book ol' Sharky is studying up on is The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature by William James, an American philosopher and psychologist who rose to prominence in the late 19th century.

The Varieties of Religious Experience is a collection of essays compiled and published in 1902, leading up to James' development of philosophical pragmatism, and was groundbreaking for its approach to the study of how personal religious belief and practice has shaped society (via Penguin Random House). A few of its entries might be pertinent to a prisoner forced to come to terms with their own mortality. There's a chance that King Shark might be reading the 14th and 15th lectures, which explore the inherent values of saintliness. Lecture number eight discusses the inability of a sick soul to find happiness simply by outnumbering their negative experiences with positive ones. The very first section of the book attempts to separate an object's value from its origin, echoing the old antihero tradition of becoming more than the sum of your broken, tortured parts. Any one of these concepts could prove life-changing to a creature, unique and alone, in the custody of a society that he doesn't understand.

However, this would all be dependent on King Shark actually reading the book the right way and not upside down. Gotta love him.

Harley Quinn's nabbed someone else's weapon

Another interesting takeaway from the trailer includes two members of Task Force X wielding the same weapon. At first, we see Javelin (Flula Borg) holding his javelin during the slow-motion antihero walk as the group appears to be departing for the fictional island of Corto Maltese, where they must infiltrate and destroy the Nazi-era prison-slash-lab Jotunheim. Once an Olympic athlete, Javelin is highly skilled at throwing his weapon, of which he has several variations, most including explosives of some kind.

However, it's Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) we see with the intricately engraved javelin the most in the new trailer for The Suicide Squad. She also used it extensively in the film's red-band trailer that was released last week. This doesn't exactly bode well for Javelin himself, who appears in the trailers significantly less than everyone else. If Harley is the one wielding his weapon, it's likely that Javelin doesn't make it very far in the movie — a close parallel to that of Slipknot (Adam Beach), who was the first to die in 2016's Suicide Squad. How Harley comes to acquire Javelin's javelin remains to be seen, but how she handles the new weapon will definitely be a blast to watch.

Ratcatcher 2's gonna catch rats

In the new Suicide Squad trailer, we also get a much better indication of what's to come with Ratcatcher 2. Daniela Melchior will be playing the second incarnation of the character — who, in the pages of DC Comics, was the protégé of the first Ratcatcher, Otis Flannegan. At the 29-second mark of the trailer, when Amanda Waller bursts into Ratcatcher 2's jail cell, a photo taped to the wall seems to be one of Ratcatcher 2 with an older gentleman, likely Otis.

With the ability to control rats, much like Marvel's Ant-Man does with his six-legged buddies, Ratcatcher can tame and control rats. We see two instances of this in the trailer. At the 20-second mark, Ratcatcher 2 — whose real name isn't known as of yet (it's not even listed in her file that Amanda Waller reviews) — calls a group of rodents to her as she holds a light in one of her hands. This appears to be one of the first instances she has had with rats, looking unsure of the situation but confident in her abilities.

It's an all-out rat war in Ratcatcher 2's second appearance at the 1:59 mark of the fresh trailer for The Suicide Squad. Again carrying the light, which appears to help Ratcatcher 2 control or call them, she calls on the rats to swarm toward something or someone. Hundreds, if not thousands, of rats surround and pass Ratcatcher 2 to do her devilish bidding.

T.D.K.'s abilities in action

One of the strangest new additions to the roster for The Suicide Squad is Floyd Belkin, aka T.D.K. In the comics, he's known as Arm-Fall-Off Boy, or the Detachable Kid. As his descriptive nicknames suggests, T.D.K.'s power is simply the fact that, well, his arms fall off. He appeared in the world of DC Comics when he tried and failed to try out for the Legion of Super Heroes (via CBR). Surprisingly, when he demonstrated his power — which, again, is simply that his arm comes off like that of a plastic-doll — his petition for membership was respectfully declined. 

Exactly how this obscure character will factor into The Suicide Squad remains to be seen. Did getting rejected from the Legion of Super Heroes drive him to a life of crime? Is the fact that he's being played by Nathan Fillion a sign that he'll have a bigger role in the movie than first meets the eye? It's too soon to say. 

However, one thing the new trailer does give fans is a look at T.D.K.'s gloriously goofy power in action. Toward the end of the trailer, there's a quick shot of both of T.D.K.'s arms popping right out of their sockets, complete with a comically grotesque squishing sound effect. They also appear to hover in the air for a moment after they come out, suggesting slight complexity to T.D.K.'s odd power. The scene then cuts to several reaction shots, including Harley exclaiming, "What the...?" Took the words right out of our mouths.