Fanboys Anonymous

Director David Ayer has released the first official look at the cast for the upcoming Suicide Squad film by tweeting out the following picture:

The cast of Suicide Squad's Task Force X

My first reaction is a mixed bag sort of deal. Yes, it could be worse, but it could also be so much better. Harley Quinn alone has gone through so many different versions for her attire, and this is the best they could come up with? It seems more like a half-assed cosplay than something worthy of a film that has commandeered so much attention from Warner Bros. Our other lead, Deadshot, is missing his headgear, and if they eliminate that element just to keep Will Smith's face on screen the entire film, I'll be disappointed.

While I'm very glad they're going with the more humanoid version of Killer Croc with the skin ailment rather than the literal giant crocodile creature, he looks incredibly fake. Immediately after noticing him in the picture, I had flashbacks to the two incarnations of The Thing from the Fantastic Four movies.

As far as the rest go? Katana is awesome and as perfect as she can be. Slipknot, Enchantress, and El Diablo are utterly pointless and there to be killed, so I couldn't care less about them. Rick Flagg looks more badass than I had expected, but I'm down with Joel Kinnaman bringing him to life. Captain Boomerang is perfectly okay, and I have more reservations about Jai Courtney's acting than the look of Digger Harkness.

Not featured in the picture are Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, and Jared Leto as The Joker (hopefully without tattoos and false teeth). It has also been revealed that Ben Affleck will appear as Batman in at least some form of cameo, but it makes perfect sense why he's missing from this cast photo. Scott Eastwood, Common, Ike Barinholtz, Jim Parrack, and Raymond Olubawale are among the actors also cast as yet-unconfirmed characters, but rumors abound that Deathstroke, Plastique, Hugo Strange, King Shark, and Steve Trevor could be in the film.

It seems as though this movie is really hitting hard on DC's and Warner Bros.' mentality that things need to be as dark, gritty, and as separate as possible from their comic book roots—the opposite viewpoint from how Marvel operates. Avengers: Age of Ultron is making incredible bank in theaters right now, and Marvel's films are universally recognized as awesome, whereas Man of Steel has more than its fair share of critics. Is DC making the right judgmental call by doing something different so as to not look like they are copying Marvel's formula, or is that a mistake, considering Marvel's success? Is this strategy going to pay off, or does it just bring back too many memories of the superhero films of the 2000s that strayed too far from the source material and didn't quite resonate with audiences?

What do you think of Task Force X? Do they look impressive, cool, and interesting? Do they look underwhelming and kind of ridiculous? Tell us what you're thinking in the comments below!

A secret government agency recruits imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops missions in exchange for clemency.