The Suicide Squad Isekai anime gives fans a fresh take on the Joker, Harley Quinn, and Peacemaker, but details on where to watch it and its Western release date remain elusive.
The Suicide Squad brand is in a bit of a rough patch right now with the Kill the Justice League game flailing and its TV and film arms recovering from the 2023 Hollywood strikes. The brand itself still remains strong and arguably stands among DC’s most iconic IPs at this point.
With major media companies looking to turn anything that’s even moderately successful into a cross-media IP, it was only a matter of time before anime adaptations became the norm for Warner Bros. Batman: Gotham Knight and Batman Ninja both garnered a solid response from critics and fans, and Suicide Squad Isekai will look to do the same in an even more fantastical setting.
Suicide Squad Isekai release date details and where to watch
Suicide Squad Isekai will start airing in Japan in July 2024 on the Tokyo MX and BS11 networks, but there’s no set release date for other markets.
It is unknown where fans will be able to watch Suicide Squad Isekai. Typically, series that are attached to air on television networks will land on services like Crunchyroll where they will have a subtitled simulcast with dubbed options for other languages being added later.
The fact that it is set to air on linear television in Japan suggests it will not land on Netflix, though this isn’t necessarily guaranteed. Netflix offered Batman Ninja and has a significant amount of DC-related content in many markets.
HBO Max may be where fans watch Suicide Squad Isekai, however. HBO has made aggressive moves to bring DC content to its services, most notably absorbing all original series produced by the now-defunct DC Universe streaming service in 2021, which led to the addition of the Harley Quinn animated series and the acclaimed Suicide Squad spin-off Peacemaker.
Ultimately, it’s unclear where Suicide Squad Isekai will land but fans will likely get a definite answer closer to its release date.
Suicide Squad roster in the Isekai anime
The Suicide Squad Isekai anime cast will star Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, Peacemaker, and Clayface.
The team roster for the Suicide Squad anime is mostly an amalgamation of recent iterations of the team. Harley Quinn has often been central to the team’s roster, with and without the Joker, and she’s joined in the Isekai anime by Deadshot and King Shark. This brings together the bulk of the Kill the Justice League core roster.
Peacemaker isn’t featured in Kill the Justice League but John Cena’s version of the character was the breakout star of 2021’s The Suicide Squad film. He reprised the role in Mortal Kombat 1 and served as the face model, though it’s unknown if he will be the voice actor for the character here.
This new version of the Suicide Squad is rounded out by Clayface.
Clayface is regarded as one of Batman’s better recurring villains, with his backstory typically being a failed or struggling actor whose attempts to reach the top see him transformed into a shapeshifting supervillain. The original Basil Karlo version of the character appears in Suicide Squad Isekai, with a new look and quirks that pay homage to “Smooth Criminal” Michael Jackson. It’s an odd change, but a definite glow-up from his usual blob-like appearance.
Is the Joker in Suicide Squad Isekai?
The Joker is set to appear in the upcoming Suicide Squad Isekai anime, but is not shown to be a member of the Suicide Squad team.
While the Joker-Harley Quinn relationship has been depicted in radically different ways across recent Batman media, ranging from quirky to outwardly abusive, the anime seems positioned to use the most idyllic reading of the couple, complete with the “puddin’” pet name.
Unfortunately for fans of the character, all footage showing the Suicide Squad after they get isekai’d to a high-fantasy world shows them without the Joker. Odds are that the character will factor into the proceedings, but it’s unknown how significant his presence will be.
