The most notorious crew in the DCEU is recruiting new members as it charges back to the big screen! In 2016, SUICIDE SQUAD introduced Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and gave us a whole new version of the Joker. Now a sequel is coming, but there will be some changes — in fact, there might be a lot of different stuff in the sequel, starting with the title.

Here’s everything we know about THE SUICIDE SQUAD.

And The Suicide Squad Arrives On…

Warner Bros. has confirmed that THE SUICIDE SQUAD opens on August 6, 2021. That’s currently the only movie set to open that weekend, but more competition will arrive as we get closer to the date. That’s also so far away that you shouldn’t even wonder about a trailer at this point. We probably won’t see any footage until late 2020.

A New Director

While David Ayer directed SUICIDE SQUAD, he won’t be back for the sequel. In a pretty surprising turn of events, former Marvel director James Gunn, who most recently made GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (above), will direct THE SUICIDE SQUAD.

Gunn is also working on the script for THE SUICIDE SQUAD. In fact, he was initially hired to simply write the film, and then in October 2018, he was confirmed to direct. That means we’ll probably see a movie that is fairly different in tone from the first.

Who Are the New Characters?

There’s some suggestion that THE SUICIDE SQUAD is partially a sequel and partially a reboot. So, there may be a bunch of new characters. We do know the new roster will feature the rodent-controlling Ratcatcher, who will be played by a woman (Daniela Melchior) despite the character, originally named Otis Flannegan, being male in the comics.

We will also see Batman villain Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), as well as Peacemaker (John Cena), whose dedication to peace is so deep that he will resort to violence in order to achieve it. That’s pretty weird, and with James Gunn in the driver’s seat, it’s a fair bet that the movie will address that very irony.

Finally, the humanoid shark called King Shark (above), aka Nanaue (Steve Agee), will also show up. The character was actually almost a part of the first movie; there’s concept art floating around to show what he might have looked like in the 2016 film.

The Suicide Squad’s New Cast

Along with the new characters and actors mentioned above, there are a number of other new faces set to join the cast of THE SUICIDE SQUAD, though their roles in the movie have not yet been confirmed. This includes Idris Elba (above), Storm Reid, Flula Borg, Nathan Fillion, Peter Capaldi, Pete Davidson, Alice Braga, Sean Gunn, Michael Rooker, Taika Waititi, Joaquín Cosío, Mayling Ng, Juan Diego Botto, Tinashe Kajese, Julio Cesar Ruiz and Jennifer Holland.

These new faces will be joining forces with multiple actors who will reprise their parts from the first SUICIDE SQUAD, including Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Jai Courtney as George "Digger" Harkness, aka Captain Boomerang, and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag.

Will the Joker Return?

One of the biggest questions about THE SUICIDE SQUAD is whether or not Jared Leto will return as the Joker. His casting was a big part of the sales pitch for the original film, and Leto’s Joker was wildly different than any we had seen on screen before.

Part of the reason things are a bit up in the air is because of how things have changed in the years since SUICIDE SQUAD’s release. Not only have we seen another actor take on the big screen role of the Clown Prince of Crime in Todd Phillips’ JOKER, but Jared Leto has also worked on a Marvel movie, playing the titular character in Spider-Man spinoff MORBIUS. Because of this, the short answer is that we don’t know what’s going on with the character and THE SUICIDE SQUAD at the moment.

What About Harley Quinn?

As attention-getting as Jared Leto’s Joker was, there’s no question that Margot Robbie’s character, Harley Quinn, was the breakout star of SUICIDE SQUAD. She was so popular, in fact, that she successfully earned her own spinoff, BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN), which has only increased the character’s popularity among movie fans.

Everyone loves Harley Quinn, so it would be pretty crazy if she didn’t come back for THE SUICIDE SQUAD. The great news is that Margot Robbie has indeed been confirmed as part of the cast. Who knows, maybe she’ll even bring some of her friends from BIRDS OF PREY with her for some cool cameos.

The AMC Scene will have more news about THE SUICIDE SQUAD soon!