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So, long before the Olympics opening ceremonies, there was another sport taking over the world: fighting over Suicide Squad. Critics hated it. Fans defended it. Petitions got started to encourage those fans never to listen to those critics ever again. It was a mess.
https://soundcloud.com/wired/the-monitor-episode-60
Now, that mess didn’t really affect Squad’s box office take—the film broke August records, making $135 million domestically in its opening weekend—but still the fight over the soul of David Ayer’s antihero movie raged on. Here at WIRED, we were pretty meh about this whole thing, but we’ve also accepted that this (sadly) is just the state of affairs these days.
But resignation is not silence. We still have a lot of things to say about our disappointment in Squad, and luckily you’ve come to the right place to hear them. We’ve got writers and editors Peter Rubin, Angela Watercutter, and K.M. McFarland on the mic, and we have some squad goals of our own. Buckle up, puddin’.
A few helpful links for things we talk about in the podcast:
-Charlie Jane Anders’ piece on why Suicide Squad is the future of superhero movies -Angela Watercutter’s essay on why Squad was the perfect movie for 2016 -Brian Raftery’s recap of the Olympics’ opening ceremony -K.M. McFarland’s piece on the Olympics’ most under appreciated sports -Charley Locke’s story on why the director of City of God was the perfect person to direct the Olympics’ opening ceremony
