Idris Elba's Bloodsport reluctantly signs up for The Suicide Squad in new trailer

James Gunn's film costars Margot Robbie, John Cena, Viola Davis, and Joel Kinnaman.

Idris Elba and Viola Davis in The Suicide Squad
Idris Elba and Viola Davis in The Suicide Squad. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures

How would writer-director James Gunn describe his new movie The Suicide Squad (in theaters and on HBO Max Aug. 6)? Succinctly. "It's a war-caper movie with s---ty supervillains," says the Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker of his latest comic book adaptation, which just premiered its new trailer.

This fresh take on the heels of David Ayer's maligned but profitable 2016 movie Suicide Squad launches a separate storyline, but once again stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, and Joel Kinnaman as Col. Rick Flag, who attempts to keep our jailbird antiheroes in line. Viola Davis also reprises her role of Squad mastermind Amanda Waller, who this time around sends Quinn & Co. on a mission to the fictional Latin American country of Corto Maltese.

"Corto Maltese has alien materials they're trying to weaponize to use against the United States and the rest of the world," producer Peter Safran tells EW. "The Suicide Squad are told to go [there] and destroy Jotunheim, which is this giant fortress."

The Squad's many new members include Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), Weasel (Sean Gunn), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Blackguard (Pete Davidson), Savant (Michael Rooker), and Bloodsport (Idris Elba), who originally appeared in the Superman comic as a gun-toting enemy of the titular hero.

"He's a real reluctant member of the Squad," says Elba. "He's a bit grumpy. He's not the warmest guy. Yeah, just playing myself, really."

John Cena is Peacemaker, who is obsessed with keeping things conflict-free no matter how much mayhem ensues. "He has this moral code that seems skewed by the amount of violence he inflicts," says Safran of Cena's character, who has already been gifted his own HBO Max spin-off show. "It's like f---ing for virginity, he's fighting for peace."

Watch the movie's new trailer above.

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