Suicide Squad: The Superhero Genre

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The superhero genre is taking the world by storm as they are undeniable box office successes. Disney and Marvel Comics are the leading company and responsible for the successful revival of the superhero genre by creating a seemingly flawless formula on how to create superhero movies in their Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). However, Warner Bros. and DC Comics are slowly making a comeback, and are breaking the mold for superhero movies. Their latest edition to the DC Extended Universe(DCEU), Suicide Squad (2016) written and directed by David Ayer, was one of the biggest movies of the summer, but was criticized harshly by critiques and left DC fans divided; they either loved it or hated it. Although many believe that Suicide Squad is an example …show more content…

While reading each of the Suicide Squad’s files, we are shown vibrant, neon, comic book-like vignettes with their stats, abilities, and fun facts that dig deeper into their origin stories. Because each individual vignette and introduction is styled to each of the squad members, it feels like the viewer is watching a comic book come to life. A prime example is Harley Quinn’s introduction, where we get to see the events of her transformation from psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel to the psychotic Harley Quinn from her warped perspective. Whenever she has flashbacks the clips have a bright two- toned pink and blue overlay, the footage is warped, fast-paced, choppy, and often out of order. This shows the viewer how broken her mind is and lets us understand how she sees the world and glamourizes her relationship with the Joker. Ayer even makes a reference to the iconic Alex Ross cover of Harley Quinn and Joker in Harley’s …show more content…

The Enchantress is an extra-dimensional witch that possesses the body of archaeologist Dr. June Moone. In the comics, she wears a more traditional green witch hat and other stereotypical witch attire. However, Ayer decided to build on the character’s origin and revamp the costume to resemble an ancient goddess giving her rune markings and golden head piece. Unlike Marvel and its characters Scarlet Witch and Dr. Strange, DC embraced the mystical and horror elements associated with magic. In Suicide Squad, we see how truly horrifying it is to be in the presence of an all-powerful witch. In the scene where we are introduced to Rick Flagg, leader of the Suicide Squad, he enters June Moone’s home and finds her in a tub full of murky black water and tall grass, with a pentagram smeared over the wall above her as she is stuck in a trance. Later when Waller introduces Enchantress to her superiors, we see a black hand slowly interlock with Dr. Moone’s hand and takes over her body. Because Enchantress is a dark and mysterious character, Ayer properly used horror elements to emphasize her devious

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