The Suicide Squad Timeline & Rewinds Explained

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Suicide Squad.

The Suicide Squad features a lineup of misfits and weirdos, so it’s appropriate that the movie’s timeline is a little weird as well. When Task Force X splits into separate teams at the beginning and then again at the end of The Suicide Squad, director James Gunn rewinds time to show what Team 2 was getting up to while Team 1 was busy with their mission.

Whereas 2016’s Suicide Squad had a single team united throughout their assignment, the larger Task Force X crew in The Suicide Squad infiltrate the island nation of Corto Maltese on two fronts – though neither team is initially aware of the other. Team 1 is led by Colonel Rick Flag and keeps the Corto Maltesian army occupied while Team 2, led by Bloodsport, breezily make their way onto the island and meet no resistance. Rather than cutting back and forth between the two teams, The Suicide Squad opens with Team 1’s bloody and ill-fated beach assault before revealing the existence of Team 2 and jumping back in time three days to explain the mission and Bloodsport’s role in it.

After the remaining members of Team 1 (Harley Quinn and Rick Flag) rendez-vous with Team 2, Task Force X divides its forces once again in order to complete the mission of destroying Jotunheim and everything in it. Rick Flag and Ratcatcher 2 (later joined by Peacemaker) take the Thinker down to the lower levels to investigate “Project Starfish,” while Harley, Bloodsport, Polka-Dot Man, King Shark and Milton plant explosives on the upper levels. Once again, The Suicide Squad allows one team’s branch of the mission to play out in full before rewinding eight minutes to show what the other team was getting up to.

Overall, The Suicide Squad‘s timeline rewinds are an effective way of keeping the action flowing and focusing on one group of characters at a time, circumventing the need for constant cuts back and forth. Starting with Team 1’s attack on the beach allows The Suicide Squad to jump right into the story before it slows down to show Amanda Waller’s mission brief for Team 2. Then, when the technique is used again during the assault on Jotunheim, it creates mystery (why were the explosives set off early?) and suspense (will Peacekeeper shoot Ratcatcher 2?) that culminates in an epic dovetailing of the two storylines.

Had the rewinds been over-used, The Suicide Squad‘s timeline might have become too confusing to follow. However, the sparing use of them during pivotal sequences at the beginning and towards the end of the movie is a fun and effective way to show how Task Force X’s two-pronged attacks play out.