First Look: Meet the Suicide Squad!

To hell with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The DC superhero movie we’re most excited about is Suicide Squad, from director David Ayer (Fury). The all-star supervillain team-up is the first film of its kind, building upon the comic book community of superpowered evildoers instead of their heroic counterparts. David Ayer has been particularly kind about keeping fans in the loop during the production, giving us early looks at Jared Leto as The Joker, and this weekend he’s decided to drop the first ever cast photo via his Twitter account.

Task Force X assembled and ready. #SuicideSquad pic.twitter.com/fEV7E1aPsm

— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) May 3, 2015

The cast, from left to right: Adam Beach as Slipknot, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Will Smith as Deadshot, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, Jay Hernandez as El Diablo, and Karen Fukuhara as Katana in the foreground.

For those who may not know what sign means at the top of the picture, “Belle Reve” is the fictional prison from the DC Comics universe, which houses many of the world’s most dangerous super criminals. The name means “Beautiful Dream,” in somewhat mangled French. (If accurately translated, it would read “Beau rêve.”) The prison made its first appearance way back in Suicide Squad #1 in May 1987, although version of the team that fans know and love – comprised of supervillains performing dangerous clandestine missions for the government in exchange for their freedom – first appeared in Legends #3 that same year.

David Ayer’s Suicide Squad is currently scheduled for release on August 6, 2016. Just a little over a year before we get to see these badasses in action, and learn if this hotly anticipated movie is worth all of this enormous buzz.

William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.