Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay is a 2018 American adult animated superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The film was produced and directed by Sam Liu and written by Alan Burnett (his last work before his retirement). It is the 32nd film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies and the tenth film of the DC Animated Movie Universe. The voice cast includes Christian Slater as Deadshot, Vanessa Williams as Amanda Waller and Billy Brown as Ben Turner / Bronze Tiger. The film was released digitally on March 27, 2018 and released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 10.

Plot
Three years prior, Amanda Waller dispatches Task Force X, a black ops squad consisting of criminals with nanite bombs implanted in their heads, to retrieve a hard drive containing leaked intelligence from Tobias Whale. After succeeding in the mission, Count Vertigo and Jewelee betray the team to steal the drive for themselves. Having overheard their intentions through the group's communication system, Waller uses Vertigo's bomb to kill him before Deadshot kills Jewelee to spare her the same fate.

In the present, Waller is diagnosed with a terminal illness, but learns of the "Get Out of Hell Free" card, a powerful relic said to grant the owner access to heaven regardless of the sins they committed in life upon their death. Learning further the card is in the possession of a former Doctor Fate, Steel Maxum, Waller recruits Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Killer Frost, Copperhead, and Bronze Tiger to retrieve it. The squad locate Maxum at a strip club, but are confronted by Professor Zoom, Silver Banshee, and Blockbuster, who also seek the card. Despite heavy resistance, the squad take advantage of Zoom's uncharacteristically waning powers to escape with Maxum, only to learn Scandal Savage and Knockout already stole the card on Vandal Savage's behalf and abandon him.

The squad arrive at Scandal and Knockout's apartment, but are intercepted by Vandal and his men, who take the card and grievously injure Knockout. As they escape, Zoom secretly places a tracker on Vandal's airship. Following this, Deadshot breaks off to see his daughter Zoe, but Tiger forces him to stay on mission. After kidnapping Frost, removing her bomb, and convincing her to join them, Zoom's group use her to lure the squad into a trap, wounding Tiger. They drop him off at a hospital before Scandal calls them to reveal Vandal's whereabouts as revenge for what happened to Knockout.

The squad eventually locates Vandal, learning that he tasked Professor Pyg with implanting the card in him in such a way that any attempt to remove it will expend its magic. However, Zoom's group arrives and subdues everyone present. After Deadshot questions his failing powers and use of underlings, Zoom reveals he was shot by another timeline's Batman, but drew energy from the Speed Force to slow down the moment of his death, which limits the use of his powers. Zoom uses his phasing ability to remove the card from Vandal without using its magic, killing Vandal in the process. Frost then kills Banshee and Blockbuster to take the card for herself, but Copperhead fights her until Waller detonates his bomb, killing them both.

Boomerang subsequently betrays the squad for the card, but Tiger arrives and stops him. Zoom incapacitates Boomerang and fatally wounds Tiger, who buys time for Deadshot to kill Zoom. In return, Deadshot gives Tiger the card, then upon his death gives the powerless card to Waller. Having served his time, Deadshot visits Zoe.

Production
This film was announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2017. It features an original story by Alan Burnett marking his last film before retirement.

Tie-in media
On March 21, a 12-issue digital comic was released on a weekly basis. Written by Jeff Parker with artwork by Matthew Dow Smith, Agustin Padilla, Stefano Raffaele and Cat Staggs, the story takes place immediately after the events of the film as Amanda Waller is still looking to avoid death. With the Spectre bearing down on her, she enlists Jason Blood a.k.a. Etrigan into her team for their latest mission. The series was then released in a trade paperback collecting all 12 issues on February 13, 2019.

Sales
The film earned $851,440 from domestic DVD sales and $1,976,142 from domestic Blu-ray sales, bringing its total domestic home video earnings to $2,834,427.

Critical response
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of, with an average score of , based on reviews.

IGN awarded Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay a score of 7.5 out of 10, saying that while not everything in the film worked, it deserves praise for its "sense of humor, willingness to kill off key characters, and exploration of a spiritual subject". A Comicsverse review by Chris Zhang notes problems with graphics, but Zhang still calls it the best Suicide Squad film ever, noting it is giving a correct portrayal of the Squad as "a bunch of backstabbing criminals being managed by a backstabbing bureaucrat" instead of a comparatively friendly team like the 2016 film.

Accolades
The film was nominated for the Golden Reel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Sound Effects, Foley, Music, Dialogue and ADR for Non-Theatrical Animated Long Form Broadcast Media award.