The recent announcement of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, which will be crashing into theatres on August 6th 2021, called into question the status of the previous big screen outing of Task Force X. 2016’s Suicide Squad made a lot of money but was critically savaged and Gunn’s movie is reportedly intended to be a reboot of the franchise, complete with different characters.
Now is as good a time as any to look back at the superior Extended Cut of the original film, as it arguably could have gone over better with audiences and meant a reboot wasn’t needed. Here are all the scenes and character moments that were added back in for the Suicide Squad Extended Cut.
MORE JOKER IN THE ARKHAM ASYLUM FLASHBACKS
One of the biggest complaints about Suicide Squad was the lack of screentime devoted to the Clown Prince Of Crime, The Joker. The Extended Cut adds back in a lot of ‘Mistah J’, to mixed results (like with his appearances in the theatrical cut).
The Arkham Asylum flashbacks, which detail his initial corruption of Dr. Harleen Quinzel’s mind, are extended here and we see more of Jared Leto’s interpretation of the character. He says that Harleen didn’t help him, but rather she erased his mind and left him a black hole of rage and confusion. Then he zapped her head with electrodes, rewiring her own mind.
EXTENDED KILLER CROC INTRODUCTION
Killer Croc is a great character and one of the most enduring members of Batman’s Rogues Gallery. It was therefore a bummer that his screentime in Suicide Squad was so truncated, especially as Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje did a great job playing him. His introductory scene is longer in the Extended Cut.
In the theatrical cut, we see the Belle Reve guards drop a butchered pig into his sewer cell and when he drops to eat it, the camera cuts to Amanda Waller eating a steak. In this version, we actually see Croc cradle the dead animal under his arm before pouncing on it and loudly tearing into it with his teeth. Lovely.
DIRECTOR DAVID AYER GETS A CAMEO
Writer/director David Ayer has shot small cameos for a few of his previous movies. In Training Day, which he wrote, he is ‘First Russian Hitman’, and in Street Kings he is ‘NLR Member in County Jail’. He also appeared briefly in Suicide Squad, though only really got the spotlight in the Extended Cut.
He is one of the guards feeding Croc and he inquires about the story going around that Croc bit off the hand of another guard. Griggs (Ike Barinholtz) then identifies that one of their fellow guards has a ‘vulcanized rubber’ prosthetic hand, meaning the story is true; get too close to Killer Croc and he’ll take a piece of you with him!
CROC PUKES IN THE HELICOPTER
Killer Croc also featured in one of the best new scenes in the Extended Cut, proving that even hulking reptilian cannibalistic criminals can have weak stomachs. When the team is on the helicopter flying into Midway City for their mission, Captain Boomerang points out that Croc doesn’t look so good.
He then proceeds to puke his guts up all over the floor of the helicopter, which Harley designates a ‘party foul’. It’s a big laugh and a nice character moment for Croc, who has a certain likeability factor to him despite being somehow who would be utterly frightening to encounter in real life!
THE ENTIRE SQUAD PLOTS WAYS TO ESCAPE FROM RICK FLAG’S CUSTODY
In the Theatrical Cut, Deadshot and Harley Quinn scheme for the villains to escape their minder Rick Flag. He tells her to ‘spread the word’ to their team, but we never actually see her do that. In the Extended Cut we do actually see her inform Captain Boomerang. Given that he is a gutless coward who is always trying to escape, he’s on board.
Croc, who he tries to reason with, isn’t, though. He shoves Boomerang into a pile of trash. El Diablo is also not a fan of the plan, as he has renounced violence or any use of his powers, and says he won’t participate. It’s a nice character building scene for Boomerang and El Diablo especially.
DEADSHOT AND RICK FLAG BOND
Rick Flag is the government agent sent on Task Force X missions to keep the criminals in line. And, of all the criminals on the team, the one who Flag can relate to the most is Deadshot, who has his own (twisted) moral code.
In the Extended Cut there is a scene in which Flag levels with Deadshot, telling him that if he fulfills his end of their deal, he’ll get his freedom and money, and will see his daughter again, no matter what Amanda Waller says. It shows that Flag is an honorable man and will stick to whatever was discussed, even if Waller tries to change the terms of deal or otherwise lord her power over Deadshot.
HARLEY PROCLAIMS HER LOVE FOR JOKER IN A FLASHBACK
In the theatrical cut, we saw snippets of a flashback in which Harley and Joker went for a dip in a vat of white goo in the Ace Chemicals plant. The extended cut not only gives us more of that scene, but also a lead-in one of Harley chasing the Joker on her motorcycle.
She crashes it in front of his hot pink sports car and declares her love for him, saying that he can’t leave her. He says she’s not part of his plan and intimates that he’s not someone who should be loved, but she proves it to him anyway by shooting an innocent truck-driving bystander. We then see that diving into the chemicals is her final test of loyalty to him.
HARLEY PSYCHOANALYSES THE SQUAD
In the movie, Harley Quinn calls Deadshot ‘just another textbook sociopath’, but that is about the extent of her psychoanalysis of her teammates. The Extended Cut gives us much more of Harley calling back to her past as a psychiatrist but using her skills for evil (or to annoy).
She says Croc’s mother issues lead to his hostility and that he sees the world as a sewer. She then moves on to Katana and diagnoses her completely incorrectly, saying that she wears a mask to hide who she is, as her father wanted a son but got a daughter. In a badass moment, she removes her mask, stares Harley in the face and says, “I am not hiding.”
THE BAR SCENE IS LONGER (AND FUNNIER)
It was disappointing when a lot of the jokes and character moments glimpsed in bar scene in the trailers didn’t make it into the Theatrical Cut. This is remedied in the Extended Cut. The scene is longer and features the team commiserating over the ’end of the world.’
Captain Boomerang hilariously refers to himself as more of an ‘asset location specialist’ when Deadshot proposes a toast to ‘honor among thieves’ and El Diablo explodes with anger when Deadshot speaks of his deal with Flag/Waller. He mocks Deadshot for believing they’re anything more than patsies to be used for Waller’s cover-up and believes Flag is only using Deadshot’s daughter as a ‘carrot on a stick’.
RICK FLAG WAXES LYRICAL ABOUT HIS LOVE FOR JUNE MOONE
One of the most criticized elements of Suicide Squad was the supposed romantic relationship between Rick Flag and June Moone aka The Enchantress, who turned out to be the villain of the piece. There simply wasn’t enough time to develop their bond enough to make it resonate with audiences and, while the Extended Cut doesn’t make it work entirely, it does do a better job.
There is a scene in which Flag tells Deadshot he never believed in true love until he met June, and this speaks to Deadshot, who is driven to participate in the mission because of his love for his daughter. It’s not much, but it’s something.
