‘Suicide Squad’: Batman’s Role Explained By David Ayer
It’s no surprise that Batman is going to have a role in the upcoming David Ayer film, Suicide Squad. Ben Affleck had the pleasure and privilege of playing a new version of Bruce Wayne/Batman in this year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and his performance earned plenty of praise — even if the overall film did not.
How did Batman end up in 'Suicide Squad' anyway? https://t.co/kUIshfyRct
— Collider (@Collider) July 11, 2016
Affleck’s Batman can be seen in one of the trailers for Suicide Squad, and his role in the film has been kept under wraps. But director David Ayer recently spoke with Collider and offered up just a few more details on Batman’s role in Suicide Squad and what fans can expect.
The first bit of important info to remember is that we will be seeing Batman through the eyes of the bad guys in the film. It sounds like we may not be seeing the classic “heroic” angle of Batman, but rather a frightening prowler of the night, looking only to take out the criminals.
“All the Batman movies have been from Batman’s point of view,” Ayers says. “He’s the good guy. He’s the hero of his own movie in all the movies we’ve seen. If you look at what Bruce Wayne has done in creating the Batman persona, his idea was to terrorize criminals. It’s sort of psychological warfare against criminals. This wraith that comes in the night and attacks and pulls criminals from society. For the first time, we’re seeing Batman from the point of view of the criminals and he’s freaking scary.”
Zack Snyder’s vision of Batman certainly helps this tone, given that much of the inspiration for Affleck’s Batman came from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. It’s remembered as easily one of the greatest Batman stories, if not the greatest, and also one of the darkest. And when you’ve got a movie full of villains and supervillains, Batman would have to be pretty terrifying to leave an impact.
As it turns out, Warner Bros. did not initially plan to have Batman appear in Suicide Squad. David Ayer thought it would be a great idea to include the iconic hero in the movie.
“Look, you apply at a job for a DC Comic movie and it’s like, ‘Come on, let me get the toys, please. Let me get the cool stuff.’ I begged for that. That was really, really something I wanted.”
Comic Book confirms that Batman was in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad script from the very beginning. Ayer says he grew up being a Batman fan, not only having read the comics, but watching the classic Adam West Batman TV series as well.
As opposed to the lovable scamp he was in BATMAN V SUPERMAN. https://t.co/5qT46mW1Yg
— Birth.Movies.Death. (@bmoviesd) July 11, 2016
We know that Batman will be interacting with Harley Quinn and the Joker, with the quick clips we see of Batman riding on the roof of Joker’s flashy purple sports car. Filmmaker Kevin Smith also revealed that Will Smith’s Deadshot, a classic Batman villain, will also cross paths with the Caped Crusader, which certainly seems like a no-brainer when you’ve got actors like Will Smith and Ben Affleck.
Ayer also makes it sound as if there is more to Batman’s role than just the quick glimpses we’ve caught of him in the trailer.
“We have had some material exposed by virtue of being out on the streets and working out on the streets,” the director admits, “but it’s a sliver.”
Other Batman villains that will appear in the movie — other than Deadshot, Harley Quinn and the Joker — include Killer Croc. With a reported runtime of two hours and 10 minutes, it seems like we could get plenty of screentime with Batman in Suicide Squad.
Suicide Squad opens in theaters August 5, 2016.
[Image via Warner Bros.]
