Suicide Squad 2 Reportedly Begins Shooting In March

The Suicide Squad is assembling for a second go-around in the DC Universe.

The start date for the second movie in the burgeoning Suicide Squad franchise has been in flux for some time, with audiences wondering where the film would fit in between proposed solo Joker movies, Gotham City Sirens, Batgirl, Shazam, or Wonder Woman 2. Additionally, the schedule of its biggest star Will Smith also raised questions about when the second movie would start shooting, with a late 2018 start date recently being rumored. 

Now, CBR is reporting a new likely start date for the Suicide Squad sequel, saying that the movie will reportedly begin shooting in mid-March 2018.

The information comes from MyEntertainmentWorld, an industry website which posts informative listings for upcoming film and television projects around the world for prospective cast and crew. The site was recently updated to include Suicide Squad 2, listing the project with a fairly specific start date but providing no information on where the movie will be shot. (The original Suicide Squad was filmed in a number of places, including Toronto, Chicago, and Los Angeles.) 

The brief synopsis provided with the posting simply says "the film is about Deadshot, Harley Quinn, the Joker, Captain Boomerang and Killer Croc work[ing] together to help the government", which is more-or-less what went down in the team's first outing. While it's interesting to hear about the idea of the Joker "working together" with anybody, this brief blurb shouldn't be taken as being indicative of the movie's plot, or the Joker's role in it. 

The Suicide sequel is being written and directed by Gavin O'Connor, who previously headed up The Accountant and Warrior. Warner Bros. is aiming for a 2019 release for the feature, putting it in line with both Shazam, slated to open on April 5 of that year, and Wonder Woman 2, set to close the year out on December 13.

While there's really no way to tell at this point, one hopes that the studio has figured out a way to shoot the movie that doesn't put its creative team in an unnecessary rush, which according to well-sourced reports compromised the first film from director David Ayer to a significant degree. 

One also hopes the studio has decided on a creative direction for the property, in an effort to avoid the tonal mess that brought down the original movie in many viewers' estimations. One of the most oft-repeated criticisms of the original was that it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a "hard men and hard women going to war" movie or a wacky, quippy, madcap adventure; as a result of the tonal push-pull, the movie sort of ended up being neither, being hit with largely unforgiving reviews as a result of its many faulty compromises.

Regardless, Suicide Squad remains an idea with a lot of potential, and it's cool to see that the cast is getting another chance to show off their chops in the roles. Hopefully this time, not so many of their performances will get lost in editing.