How to watch ‘The Suicide Squad’

Bloodsport and Peacemarker face off.
(Image credit: HBO Max)

The Suicide Squad has arrived. The Warner Bros. film is one of the most anticipated titles of the summer, serving as a sequel/quasi-reboot of the DCEU franchise. If you’re looking for how to watch The Suicide Squad, you’ll find there’s more than one way to do it.

The Suicide Squad is directed and written by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and stars Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman and Viola Davis, along a whole host of recognizable faces portraying less-than-familiar DC anti-heroes. Per the title, the group is tasked with taking on a deadly mission for the chance to knock off a few years on their prison sentence, or whatever else may get them on board.

This is the second go-around for the DC franchise. While 2016’s Suicide Squad did well at the box-office, it was critically panned and fans were lukewarm to it at best. Filmmaker David Ayer has been pushing for the #Ayercut, ala the movement that brought us Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

However, the reviews for Gunn’s The Suicide Squad have been much better. The film is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a current score of 95%; it’s Metacritic score, meanwhile, sits at a very respectable 74.

If you want to find out for yourself what film is all about, here’s how you can watch The Suicide Squad.

Is 'The Suicide Squad' playing in theaters?

The Suicide Squad is the big, superhero-driven movie that has come to dominate movie theaters these days, so its only natural that the film will have a spot at most local theaters. While The Suicide Squad’s official release date is Aug. 6, the film will have limited screenings starting the evening of Aug. 5. Check your local theater to see if it is playing there.

Fans will also be able to see The Suicide Squad on an even bigger screen, as the film is also being released in IMAX where available.

Whether or not you end up seeing it in IMAX or regular theater, there are ways to help make a trip to the theater for The Suicide Squad, and any other film,  more affordable — with movie theater subscription deals. These are great services that can quickly pay for themselves for big movie fans.

And please, when seeing The Suicide Squad or any movie, please be safe and considerate to your fellow moviegoers.

Is The Suicide Squad on HBO Max?

Like all of Warner Bros. 2021 film slate, The Suicide Squad is getting a simultaneous release in theaters and on the HBO Max streaming service. In fact, The Suicide Squad will also appear on HBO Max ahead of the original Aug. 6 premiere date, launching on the service at 7 p.m. ET on Aug. 5

Watching The Suicide Squad on HBO Max comes at no extra cost for subscribers to HBO Max’s ad-free, $14.99 tier; it will not be available to subscribers to the ad-supported $9.99 version of HBO Max. The Suicide Squad will be on the service for 31 days before it is removed.

Other films that have had the day-and-date release strategy, like Wonder Woman 1984, have eventually returned to HBO Max, but the timetable for those returns are not set in stone.

Get a peek at what's in store with The Suicide Squad with the trailer below.

Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.