Suicide Squad opened on August 3, 2016, putting DC's incarcerated supervillains to work as deniable government assets and kicking off one of the more contentious chapters of the DC Extended Universe.
David Ayer wrote and directed the film, assembling a cast led by Will Smith's Deadshot, Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, and Jared Leto's Joker, with Viola Davis anchoring the operation as the ruthless handler Amanda Waller.
The film holds a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 40 on Metacritic, reflecting a rocky theatrical cut that critics found tonally scattered, though it's Robbie's Harley Quinn that emerged as the film's most lasting contribution, launching a character who'd go on to headline her own franchise.
A decade on, Suicide Squad reads less as a finished film than as a case study in a studio changing direction while the film was already shooting, and it's worth revisiting now mainly to trace how much clearer DC's vision for these characters became afterward.
