Official Synopsis of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad Reveals Comic Book Setting

February 13, 2021February 14, 2021 Brent Sprecher

The ongoing pandemic paused, pushed back, and completely canceled a number of movie productions, but not The Suicide Squad, apparently. All principal photography was completed in February 2020 before studios began being shutting down in April, while post-production work continued from the homes of the artists and editors. Now, writer-director James Gunn has announced that the reboot/revamp movie is “finished and cut,” with minimal oversight from Warner Bros.

#TheSuicideSquad is fully finished and cut and I made every single choice and they never once even slightly interfered. They gave very few notes – they were usually good and minor and I took them if I wanted to and didn't if I didn't want to. Warners was creatively amazing.

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) February 5, 2021

In the newly-released synopsis for the movie, the full cast of villains and anti-heroes assigned to Task Force X is revealed, as well as the destination of their mission: Corto Maltese. Comic book fans recognize the name as the strife-ridden South American island nation first mentioned by Frank Miller in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #3, published in August 1986. It would later be mentioned in Tim Burton‘s Batman, as well in on Smallville and Arrow.

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 favorite 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.

The Suicide Squad stars Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, Joel Kinnaman, John Cena, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Michael Rooker, Flula Borg, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Steve Agee, Mayling Ng, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson, Nathan Fillion, Sean Gunn, Storm Reid, Taika Waititi, Joaquín Cosío, and Juan Diego Botto.