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Warner Bros. Pictures has unveiled an official trailer for the Suicide Squad film adaptation. The video embedded above offers glimpses of Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, Karen Fukuhara as Katana, and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang.

Here’s more from The Hollywood Reporter: “Suicide Squad centers around a group of villains and ne’er-do-wells — headed up by Will Smith’s Deadshot and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn — forced to work for the government under the supervision of Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman). With such morally dubious characters as the “good” guys, it falls to one of DC’s most infamous villains — the Joker, as played by Jared Leto — to take up the position of bad guy in the movie.”

Variety reports that the release date for this movie, helmed by David Ayer, has been set for Aug. 5. Follow this link to watch a first look video. (via Comic Book Resources)

Get a look at what will be gracing bookstore magazine shelves this December

For weeks and weeks, we kept getting teases about Jared Leto‘s hair, his voice, and any other scrap of information that the internet could pull together about what his Joker looks like in David Ayer‘s upcoming Suicide Squad.

The wait is over folks, as Ayer has tweeted out the first official Joker photo in honor of the Joker’s 75th anniversary:

Not sure how I feel about the grille, and some of the tattoos (though they line up pretty well with the rumors that this Joker would look a bit like Jim Lee‘s from All Star Batman and Robin), but there’s something really unsettling about Leto’s appearance here…dare I say, it captures the kind of manic energy I was hoping we’d see in our next on-screen Joker. I’m rather creeped out looking at him, and that may be just the desired effect that Ayer and his team are going for.

Also, while I know that’s a riff on the whole “tear on the face” prison tattoo bit he has going on there…is that maybe a “J” for Jason Todd? Possibly a stretch, but we did apparently see a Robin costume in that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer.

I’m sure this totally won’t dominate the weekend at all.

After David Ayer tweeted out the big Suicide Squad cast read-through photo last night, the question on many fans’ minds was: “Where’s Jared Leto?”

The obvious answer is, as “paul” pointed out in the comments section: he’s probably just on tour.

But nonetheless, it looks like Ayer heard you loud and clear as he shared a pretty amazing response:

#WhereIsJared#SuicideSquadpic.twitter.com/D5tMnMGBop

— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) April 10, 2015

In the above picture, you’ll see Leto with his green Joker hair emulating the classic Brian Bolland cover that’s haunted me since I was 5 (though he got it backwards, points for the effort!):

Let’s just pretend he was the guy that took the first picture.

Suicide Squad opens on August 5, 2016.

It’s been a slow news day today, post Age of Ultron trailer, but I did go see Chappie last night (it’s terrible, I suddenly fear for the Alien franchise). Here’s your quick round-up of today’s entertainment-related news:

– Per Latino Review, Jared Leto‘s hairstylist Chase Kusero just posted a picture on Instagram of a “work in progress” look at Jared Leto’s Joker hair as it will appear in Suicide Squad. From that back-shot, it looks very Greg Capullo-esque:

The end of an era

A photo posted by @chasehair on Mar 5, 2015 at 1:04pm PST

– As we’re on the verge of Avengers: Age of Ultron debuting, in just under two months, it should be no surprise that theaters are planning big Marvel movie marathons. But it’s not just Phase 2 they’re showing, no sir/ma’am, it’s the entire Marvel oeuvre to this point. Starting April 29th at 6 pm and ending just before 10 pm or so the next day, select AMC and Regal theaters across the country will be showing all 11 Marvel Studios films in their order of release.

Here’s the full schedule:

6:00 p.m. – Iron Man
8:25 p.m. – The Incredible Hulk
10:35 p.m. – Iron Man 2
1:00 a.m. – Thor
3:10 a.m.  – Captain America: The First Avenger
5:30 a.m. – The Avengers
8:48 a.m. – Iron Man 3
11:15 a.m. – Thor: The Dark World
1:45 p.m. – Captain America: The Winter Soldier
4:20 p.m. – Guardians of the Galaxy
7:00 p.m.– Avengers: Age of Ultron

As you can see, you can take a nap during Iron Man 2, and maybe run out for IHOP around the showings of Iron Man 3 or Thor: The Dark World. Otherwise though, there’s no breaks built in and you better make good use of that unlimited refill on the popcorn and sodas!

Those who are feeling a little more time crunched can instead opt for Cinemark‘s Avengers double bill. I remember I tried to do something like this once with The Lord of the Rings movies right before The Return of the King came out. By the time I got to the third film, I was ready to see Frodo tossed into Mount Doom. But more power to anybody that gives this one a go!

– Variety spoke with WB’s CEO Kevin Tsujihara for a piece about the possibility of audiences facing superhero fatigue, an assertion that he dismissed. Yet, the quote that fans are zeroing in on specifically is one that posits WB’s upcoming DC-based superhero slate against the meteorically successful Marvel one:

“The worlds of DC are very different,” he said. “They’re steeped in realism, and they’re a little bit edgier than Marvel’s movies.”

“Edgier” is a word I wish he hadn’t used, as that brings to mind many of the major criticisms that detractors struck Man of Steel with: that it was film too grim for its own good, among many other complaints. Whether that will prove true for the upcoming offerings in 2016 remains to be seen. Where I feel like WB should set the DC films apart from Marvel is by making them more auteur-driven, rather than forcing an overall edict of realism onto Aquaman and Shazam!. The one big Achilles’ heel that Marvel has is that they’re a bit “samey” in their approach, in that every film has to fit the same tone, plot beats, and has to uphold the on-going universe above all else. There’s no real room for a director to really lay his stamp onto the characters the way Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan did for Batman and Sam Raimi did for Spider-Man (the good ones anyway, whichever those are, I’ll leave to your discretion). But, I can’t think of anything less appealing than a cinematic universe that operates just like Marvel but in the same gray sludgey tones as Man of Steel. For all its faults, the MCU at least has some great color throughout and is a good deal of fun to watch on the biggest screen possible. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that I’ll be pleasantly surprised come next year.

– After Marvel’s early Age of Ultron trailer release, today they let loose with a few short behind the scenes videos with Cineplex featuring Joss Whedon and Jeremy Renner while in the midst of filming:

-Last but not least and just in case it slipped your mind; on March 17th, the same day The Flash returns to CW, iZombie will be debuting just after, here’s a trailer for the upcoming adaptation by Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) of Chris Roberson and Mike Allred‘s Vertigo comic:

This is incredibly minor in the wake of today’s Aquaman news, but WB/DC Entertainment’s other big comic-based film, Suicide Squad, got a little bit of press today.

Jared Leto, who gets the unenviable task of following Heath Ledger in the role of the Joker, spoke to Billboard briefly about what drew him to the character:

The opportunity to take on this nearly Shakespearean character…that’s what graphic novels and comic books are becoming, right?…[He’s] this beautiful disaster of a character, what a big challenge.

Leto also let on that he’s bulking up for the part. Now, I realize Leto is a skinny guy, but the Joker is typically fairly thin too. Perhaps they’re going for the Frank Miller/Jim Lee All Star Batman and Robin approach:

Will Smith, who plays Deadshot (but probably not with Michael Rosenbaum‘s awesome Kevin Spacey impression) spoke with MTV News about being able to make the character his own:

With this character and the DC world, I love that I’m getting the opportunity for the global definition of Deadshot. There’s been Deadshot in little appearances here and there, there’s an idea, but Deadshot isn’t defined, really. I get to be a part of the creation that will be the biggest historical image of Deadshot.

Suicide Squad, directed by David Ayer, hits theaters on August 5, 2016.

Warner Bros. has announced that six actors have joined the cast of the Suicide Squad film adaptation.

The original story (published by DC Comics) stars a group of supervillains who band together as anti-heroes in service of the United States government. Jared Leto (pictured, via) will play the Joker, Will Smith will play Deadshot, Tom Hardy will play Rick Flagg, Margot Robbie will play Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney will play Boomerang, and Cara Delevingne will play Enchantress.

Deadline reports that Jesse Eisenberg may reprise his role as Lex Luthor (from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) for this movie. Filmmaker David Ayer has been brought on to serve as both the director and screenwriter. A release date has been scheduled for August 05, 2016. (via BuzzFeed)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Benedict Cumberbatch (pictured, via) has been cast to take on the title role for Marvel’s Doctor Strange film adaptation. According to The Hollywood Reporter, other Hollywood stars who were being considered for this part include three-time Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix, The Notebook actor Ryan Gosling, and Academy Award winner Jared Leto.

Filmmaker Scott Derrickson will serve as the director for this project. Screenwriter Jon Spaihts will oversee the script; the first draft was a collaborative effort between writers Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer.

Here’s more from Deadline: “Doctor Strange was hatched by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko during that Marvel Comics heyday of the early 1960′s. He’s a neurosurgeon who becomes Sorcerer Supreme, protecting Earth against magical and mystical threats with powers of sorcery, mysticism, and martial arts.” (via The Verge)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Jared Leto as Rayon.

I could go on and on about the awards. For example, both Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto won Oscars for their performances in 2013’s Dallas Buyers Club. It was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Screenplay. We all know awards aren’t everything. In fact, sometimes, Oscars indicate a yawn fest. Not in this case.

Dallas Buyers Club is the based-on-a-true-story of Texas cowboy and rodeo man Ron Woodroof. Ron was a man’s man. In the opening scene, he’s banging two chicks while watching a bull rider get creamed. (Ur, no pun intended.) When he’s electrocuted at work, he gets taken to the hospital where he realizes he has AIDS.

Ron vehemently denies the diagnosis saying that AIDS is for “faggots,” and “he ain’t no faggot.” Interesting to me—and painfully sad—was how ignorant we once were of a disease that is now a worldwide epidemic. In the 80s, AIDS was the bane of homosexuals alone and could be passed on via toilet seat.

The treatments were equally ignorant, as portrayed in the film as Big Medicine shoves dangerous amounts of AZT down the throats of willing test patients to their detriment. Ron found a way around this. Originally given thirty days to live, he travels to Mexico and finds alternative treatments not approved by the FDA.

To save his life and the lives of others, he starts the “Dallas Buyers Club.” He’s not selling drugs; he’s selling memberships. Along the way, he befriends unlikely ally Rayon, a gorgeous, sweet, and uncouth tranny played by Jared Leto.

I have no clue how many pounds both McConaughey and Leto lost for their roles, but let me say they lost a lot. In the nude, they’re both almost feminine, delicate. It’s hard to believe where these boys began in high school faves like Dazed and Confused and My So-Called Life. Now, they are unrecognizable in their roles. McConaughey becomes Ron Woodroof, and Leto is literally a breast. Oscars well deserved.

The message of the film has several different levels. On one hand, it addresses the massive problem that was and is AIDS. Even though we know more about it now, it’s still a terrible, tragic disease. Thankfully, last year was the lowest for reported new infections since the mid 1990s. Yet, millions, gay and straight alike, are still fighting a battle.

Secondly (and possibly the most angering issue addressed in Dallas Buyers Club) is the money monster that is the pharmaceutical corporations who seem to be in cahoots with the FDA. Ron Woodroof found a way to treat his illness, but since the FDA had not approved his methods, his treatments were taken from the people he was trying to save.

I’m sure the film tended a little toward propaganda on that front. I mean, Dallas Buyers Club made the FDA into complete toolbags. I hope it’s not as bad as portrayed, but maybe it is. I mean, doctors do want to feed us pills, and we take them without question, just like the AIDS patients who died in early AZT trials before doctors discovered proper dosing.

The question posed by this film: Does a patient have the right to seek any treatment they want, regardless of what a doctor or the government has to say? As a dabbler in both naturopathy and traditional medicine, I say yes. If people were more informed of alternative treatments, the world would be a different place. Last year, a friend of mine lived through a cancer death sentence not through chemo but through organic foods, vitamin IVs, and juicing. Ron Woodroof would approve.

I didn’t cry until the credits, and I’m not sure why. I felt despair at the hopelessness of so many AIDS patients. I felt anger at the FDA and the way our government is run (by the deep pockets of Big Medicine, apparently). And I’m not spoiling anything when I tell you Ron Woodroof is no longer with us.

When Dallas Buyers Club was over, I cried. Like so many other modern masterpieces (RENT, Angels in America), this film will stir you and remind you that you only get one life. Better do something with it.