Will The Suicide Squad Have Any References To The Original Movie?

The newest rendition of "The Suicide Squad" is set to hit theaters on August 6, 2021, and fans have high hopes — even though 2016's "Suicide Squad" didn't fare well with fans or critics. "The Suicide Squad" will tell the story of a team of supervillains who band together to form the secret Task Force X, and are then left on the fictional island of Corto Maltese to face off with numerous enemies.

But wait, what about the first "Suicide Squad" movie? How does the original connect to the new one? While it's pretty clear that fans enjoy interconnected superhero multiverses (looking at you, Marvel), 2021's "The Suicide Squad" isn't necessarily a sequel to the first film or even a complete reboot. Rather, it's going to be a standalone film starring beloved characters from the first movie, including Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), and Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). 

On that note, fans may wonder if "The Suicide Squad" will reference its predecessor or anything that happened in the original movie. Here's what producer Peter Safran had to say on the matter.

It looks like fans shouldn't expect "The Suicide Squad" to reference the original "Suicide Squad" movie in any form. While the new film will bring back many of the original's starring characters — minus Will Smith's Deadshot due to scheduling conflicts — there are several fresh faces joining the DC Extended Universe. According to Screen Rant, Safran noted that "The Suicide Squad" also won't reference the Harley Quinn film "Birds of Prey" or discuss her iconic relationship with the Joker.

Safran further explained why "The Suicide Squad" won't reference the original movie. "We just don't address it in any tangible form," he said. "Yes, they're the characters [and] the actors that played them in the first movie. But we really wanted to make sure that this stands on its own two feet. So, again, it's why... it's not a sequel, but there are some characters that were in the first movie, right? So it's not really a full reboot either. So we just call it James Gunn's The Suicide Squad."

Many fans are looking forward to the James Gunn version of "The Suicide Squad," notably because he's promised plenty of death and action that the first film lacked. Here's hoping that this run of "The Suicide Squad" fares better than the last.