The ‘worst’ Suicide Squad movie climbs Netflix chart

Cameron Frew
Jared Leto as the Joker on the 2016 Suicide Squad poster

There are two Suicide Squad movies, and the ‘worst’ of them has managed to climb the Netflix top 10 chart.

While the DCEU has rarely matched the Marvel Cinematic Universe in terms of hype, critical success, or box office returns, one project generated substantial excitement ahead of its release: David Ayer’s Suicide Squad.

The first trailer leaked out of Comic-Con and became a sensation, seeming to promise a dark, gritty actioner with a starry cast and a mean, fresh take on the Joker with Jared Leto. The resulting movie was a disaster, chopped and changed in a bid to echo Deadpool’s tone and losing what made people interested in the first place.

Five years later, coming before his takeover and reboot of DC, James Gunn took a stab at the villainous super-team with The Suicide Squad, an acclaimed do-over. Both movies are on Netflix, but only one is on the top 10 chart.

David Ayer’s Suicide Squad climbs Netflix top 10 chart

The first Suicide Squad movie is at number six on the Netflix top 10 movies chart, having climbed two places in the past day. You can check out the full chart below:

  1. The Super Mario Bros Movie
  2. Family Switch
  3. Leo
  4. Hunter Killer
  5. Lucy
  6. Suicide Squad
  7. The Meg
  8. The Silencing
  9. May December
  10. She’s the Man

Just for context, 2016’s Suicide Squad grossed $747 million worldwide, but its Rotten Tomatoes score came in at 26%, while 2021’s The Suicide Squad jumped to 90%. Its box office was minuscule in comparison, making just $168 million – but global restrictions played a huge role in its performance.

Ayer has spoken at length about his woes with Suicide Squad, but he’s also lobbied for the release of his cut of the movie with a number of significant differences, including but not limited to the first 40 minutes being “ripped to pieces”, several other scenes with Jared Leto’s Joker, and unheard tracks from the original score.

In a new interview with Total Film, he was asked if we’ll ever see his cut, especially with Gunn running DC Studios. “I think so. I’m going to be hopeful. You know, there are a lot of people that are invested in certain narratives that don’t want it to see the light of day,” he said.

“So there’s an immense political headwind against it, because if that cut were made public, the cowardliness and the whole just general sh*ttiness of how the film’s been treated, and how the actors have had this great work that they’d done taken away… that narrative blows up once people see the movie. But it’s coming. Something’s going to happen. Something’s going to be revealed. The truth always comes out. It always comes out.” 

You can check out our other DC coverage here.

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About The Author

Cameron is Deputy TV and Movies Editor at Dexerto. He's an action movie aficionado, '80s obsessive, and Oscars enthusiast. He loves Invincible, but he's also a fan of The Boys, the MCU, The Chosen, and much more. You can contact him at cameron.frew@dexerto.com.