Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn) reunited viewers with Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, and left everything set for her return in The Suicide Squad, proving that this will definitely be a sequel to the 2016 film. After its first batch of DC films didn’t perform as expected (especially Justice League), Warner Bros. is taking a new direction with the upcoming films in DC’s movie universe (unofficially titled DC Extended Universe). The studio will continue exploring the stories of characters that have already been introduced, such as Wonder Woman and Aquaman, and bring new ones to the mix, among those new members of the Suicide Squad and a new version of Batman with Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader.

The DCEU is also paying attention to other characters outside the films they were introduced in, such as Harley Quinn. Best known as the Joker’s accomplice and sentimental partner, Harley Quinn was introduced in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad alongside Jared Leto’s Joker. Harley returned in Birds of Prey, following her post-break up life and alliance with Huntress, Black Canary, and Renee Montoya to protect young Cassandra Cain from crime lord Roman Sionis a.k.a. Black Mask. Though Birds of Prey is a separate story from Suicide Squad, it included a couple of references to Harley’s teammates from Task Force X and the events of the film.

Harley will be back in The Suicide Squad, directed by James Gunn. Although a couple of members from Ayer’s squad will be back, the film is being labelled as a “standalone sequel” rather than a direct one – however, the events in Birds of Prey showed that The Suicide Squad will definitely be a sequel, even if Warner Bros. refuses to call it like that.

Warner Bros. Claims The Suicide Squad Isn’t A Sequel

A Suicide Squad sequel was announced to be in development before the first film was even out, with David Ayer set to return as director and Will Smith reprising his role as Deadshot. However, Ayer ended up exiting the project in favor of directing Gotham City Sirens (which DC ultimately dropped in favor of Birds of Prey), and the search for a new director began. Following his firing from Marvel Studios, James Gunn was approached by Warner to direct a DCEU film, and chose the Suicide Squad sequel.

In January 2019, the project was retitled The Suicide Squad, which according to producer Peter Safran was because the film is “a total reboot”. Months later, the film was described as a new take on this particular DC property rather than a direct sequel to Ayer’s film. The Suicide Squad will be set in the DCEU, which is why it brings back Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), and more, but Warner insists the film is a reboot or standalone sequel rather than a proper one, even if that doesn’t add up with what’s known about the film so far and with what Birds of Prey established.

Birds of Prey is a Direct Suicide Squad Follow-Up (For Harley Quinn)

Birds of Prey isn’t a Suicide Squad sequel, but a continuation of Harley’s story after the events of that film. By the end of Suicide Squad, the members of Task Force X were sent back to Belle Reve with ten years off their sentences – and a couple of perks, except for Captain Boomerang. As Harley was enjoying some fresh coffee in her cell thanks to a new coffeemaker, the Joker and company broke into the penitentiary and rescued her. Birds of Prey begins with Harley narrating the events of her life leading up to when the Joker broke up with her following the events of Suicide Squad. The film never ignored what happened with the team and their mission to stop Enchantress, but this is Harley’s story, so there are only a few references here and there to her previous big screen appearance, and the ending sets up her return in The Suicide Squad perfectly, with her going on her own way and starting a business with Cassandra Cain.

The Suicide Squad is Bringing Back the Original Cast

As mentioned above, The Suicide Squad will have most of the original cast back. Viola Davis will reprise her role as Amanda Waller, who was last seen in Suicide Squad’s mid-credits scene making a deal with Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck): he agreed to protect her from backlash against her role in the whole Enchantress mess in exchange for access to the government’s files on the metahuman community, and a document on Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) and Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa). This scene also hinted at Waller knowing that Wayne is Batman, telling him he looked tired and should stop working late nights, to which he replied she should shut down Task Force X or else he and “his friends” would do it.

Also coming back are Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang. The latter was shown to be one of the most dangerous members of the squad, to the point where he wasn’t granted any privileges at the end and was just kept in a cell with a guard outside 24/7. Through an Easter egg, Birds of Prey showed that Boomerang also managed to escape from prison, and the police is now looking for him. Will Smith won’t reprise his role as Deadshot due to scheduling conflicts, nor will Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc and Karen Fukuhara as Katana. The Suicide Squad will have new characters to complete the team, such as Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), Ratcatcher (Daniela Melchior), and King Shark (voiced by Steve Agee). Also joining the fun are Idris Elba (who was initially approached to play Deadshot but Gunn and the studio decided to have him play another character, enabling Will Smith to return in a future sequel), John Cena, Storm Reid, Nathan Fillion, Peter Capaldi, Taika Waititi, and Pete Davidson, among many others.

Why Won’t Warner Bros. Call The Suicide Squad a Sequel?

The Suicide Squad has been referred to as a reboot, soft-reboot, and standalone sequel – everything but a direct one. Even James Gunn himself won’t clarify if it’s a sequel or a reboot. While there’s no concrete reason as to why Warner Bros. just won’t call The Suicide Squad a sequel, it might very well be because the film is an unconventional sequel and as such it’s hard to categorize. The Suicide Squad is bringing back most of the team and is set in the DCEU, so in that sense, it definitely works as a sequel, but it’s also serving as a reboot with new team members (and without Jared Leto’s Joker showing up) – and taking into account that Waller made a deal with a now gone version of Bruce Wayne, there will be a lot of things that will have to be changed to better fit the current DCEU.

It’s not outside the realm of possibility that Warner is choosing not to call The Suicide Squad a sequel simply because they want to detach from the first film and all the negativity it received. Suicide Squad was a box office success, but it was heavily criticized and is regarded as one of the weakest entries in the DCEU so far. Whatever the case, The Suicide Squad is closer to a proper sequel than anything else and Birds of Prey was good proof of that, leaving everything ready for Harley’s reunion with her former teammates and with Captain Boomerang on the run.

Next: How Birds of Prey Sets Up A Proper Harley Quinn Sequel

  • Wonder Woman 2 Release Date: 2020-12-25 The Batman Release Date: 2022-03-04 Suicide Squad 2 Release Date: 2021-08-06 Black Adam Release Date: 2022-10-21 Shazam! The Fury of the Gods Release Date: 2023-03-17 Super Pets Release Date: 2022-07-29 The Flash Movie Release Date: 2023-06-23 Aquaman 2 Release Date: 2023-12-25