Not that we ever suspected the villains of The Suicide Squad to have an easy time of it — it’s always a bummer when the U.S. government puts bombs in your head, after all — but Warner Bros. has released the official plot synopsis for the movie, and, well, now we know the reason why some characters aren’t going to make it through the movie alive.
Before we dive into what it all means, here’s the synopsis in full, via CBR:
From writer/director James Gunn comes Warner Bros. Pictures’ superhero action-adventure “The Suicide Squad,” featuring a collection of the most degenerate delinquents in the DC lineup.
Welcome to hell — a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out — even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin, and everyone’s favourite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them — all of them.
Seeing as the Squad will be fighting both “militant adversaries” and “guerrilla forces” on their “search-and-destroy mission” on the “enemy-infused” island, they’re clearly not taking sides in the conflict, thus begging the question of what Amanda Waller wants destroyed. And, what Amanda Waller really sent them for, because she always has a secret scheme.
If you’re not up on your DC Comics lore, Corto Maltese is a South American nation that is almost always going through a military coup or is run by a military dictatorship. It was first introduced in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns as a country Superman fights Communist rebels in, but it’s made a few live-action appearances. Well, more like mentions: It’s where Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) made her name taking war pictures in the 1989 Batman movie, and was namedropped on both Smallville and Arrow, apparently.
Regardless, most of the Suicide Squad will likely die violently there when the movie premieres in theatres (maybe) on August 5.