Robin Parrish, Tech Times

Suicide Squad is a story about villains co-opted into working on the side of the angels. Typically, Amanda Waller (the team's overseer) and Rick Flag, Jr. (the team's field leader) strike deals with various baddies to have their prison sentences shortened or ended in exchange for serving on the Squad for a predetermined amount of time. Of course, this doesn't stop the team's members from trying to double-cross each other at every opportunity.

But the focus of these stories, aside from all the black ops coolness, is to see if villains are capable of doing good -- even if they're doing it against their will.

Ayer himself confirmed that he's putting this theme front and center in one of his earliest tweets about Suicide Squad.

Look at his resume and it's immediately apparent that Ayer is very interested in telling stories that speak to universal truths and struggles. In films like Harsh Times, Street Kings and End of Watch, he shows that good is good and bad is bad, but the path to learning this is often a muddy, messy road where morals aren't always clear. And then there's Fury, his acclaimed World War II movie from last year. While depicting WWII in a more realistic way than most other films have, Fury focused on the indoctrination of a rookie into the realities of war. It was the descent of an innocent man into the dehumanizing arena of war. Again, Ayer plays with the theme of the murky waters between good and evil.

Ayer seems to be interested in telling stories that speak to universal truths. Good guys sometimes have to do things that don't feel very good, so how does that affect them and change them? Bad guys are rarely mustache-twirlers who worship evil; they're quite capable of doing good things, too, particularly for the people and things that matter to them most. How do they wrestle with that pull towards the light when they're so firmly entrenched in darkness?

Suicide Squad isn't going to be a movie that dives into the deepest struggles of the human soul. It's a popcorn flick, first and foremost. But Ayer has the creds to bring some genuine humanity to what's sure to be a wild and wacky ride of a film, and that should go a long way toward making us care about what happens to Deadshot, Joker, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Enchantress and Rick Flag.

Of all the characters announced for Suicide Squad, fans are fixated most on Harley Quinn. And she's a perfect fit for Ayer's fascination with good and evil. There's something fascinating about a person who's completely and utterly obsessed with an irredeemable madman. Does she still have a soul? She was once a relatively normal woman, and a highly intelligent one at that. 

She worked at Arkham as a criminal psychologist. So is there anything human still inside her? Does she have even a single drop of good left? Or has Joker corrupted her absolutely? This fan-favorite character is sure to get her time in the spotlight in Suicide Squad, and as the above tweet shows, David Ayer is pondering the best way to portray her. She's insane for sure, but what truly motivates her? Then there's the question of what part of DC Comics history the movie will draw from. Will he even use the comics as his source material, or will he construct a new story that's entirely original? Ayer answers this pretty unequivocally.

These aren't current issues of the New 52 Suicide Squad. These are 100% old school, all from John Ostrander's run back in the '80s and '90s, which really defined the Squad as we know them today. This is an interesting contrast to Marvel Studios, which has largely drawn from modern-day storylines for its movies. But what can we learn about the movie from these comics?

If you look closely, you can see that these aren't ordinary comic book bindings. They appear to be printed-out collections with homemade bindings at the edges. There are dates written in red in the margins of these thick books that suggest that they collect multiple issues in chronological order, though we can't say this for certain. All these comics collections mean for sure is that Ayer is using collected editions (the equivalent of trade paperbacks) to familiarize himself with the comics -- and he seems to be focusing exclusively on John Ostrander's work. The five covers that are visible are from Suicide Squad #13, #25, #37, #49 and #61. These five issues aren't part of any single story arc, but they do share some things in common.

Each issue focuses on one of two things: the Squad engaging in international daring-do (and running afoul of the Justice League), or internal agency intrigue with various parties trying to wrest control of the Squad from Amanda Waller. Are these hints as to what the movie could be about? It's not hard to imagine the Squad being sent on some kind of international black ops mission that's too sensitive for mainstream heroes like Superman and Batman to get involved in. But rumors have suggested that the movie is primarily based around Arkham Asylum and the Joker trying to manipulate the Squad for his own ends.

Amanda Waller, on the other hand, is played by Viola Davis in the film, and it's hard to imagine Ayer not making good use of her considerable talents. Other tweets show some of the more fun aspects of the production. After tweeting a picture of some prop guns and gadgets that he titled "Tools," Ayer was asked if these items would belong to Will Smith's Deadshot in the film. To which he replied...

Most recently, he's shown off behind-the-scenes looks at how the movie is being constructed.

So what do you think? What story is Ayer going to tell with Suicide Squad? Maybe his Twitter account will reveal more secrets over the next year and a half. 

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Tags: David Ayer Suicide Squad Fury DC Comics DC Cinematic Universe Joker Harley Quinn Movies Comic Books
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