I never would have thought it.  Seriously.

After 3 weeks at #1 and hauling in, to date, a massive $300 million plus from American audiences and a total worldwide haul, excluding China which didn’t allow the film to be screened there, of around $637 million, its fair to say Suicide Squad is a success.  (More information about the film’s box office can be found here)

Not bad for a film many predicted -before its release and immediately after all the terrible reviews came in- would crash and burn.

I wrote a few weeks back about how Suicide Squad seemed to be following Batman v Superman’s trajectory almost to a tee. (you can read that posting here)

The folks over at Warner Brothers/DC Comics must be exhaling and celebrating.  The fact is that despite so much rancor, they’ve had themselves a very profitable summer and both BvS and Suicide Squad have proven a hit with audiences…if not all of them and certainly not with most critics.

I’ve said again and again that I really like BvS and, now that the director’s cut is available, like the film even more.  I would even go so far as to state it is now one of my favorite superhero films, though it doesn’t quite reach the level of my two favorite superhero works, the original Superman and Captain America: Winter Soldier.

Yes, I consider BvS on the level (in some ways better, in others not) with the Christopher Nolan Batman films.

But Suicide Squad?

That’s a whole ‘nuther story.  When I finally saw it and reviewed it (you can read that here), I found the film enjoyable enough but recognized it was a Frankenstein’s monster of a film.  Suicide Squad was clearly a rushed work that featured last minute re-shoots and, based on further reports, a melding of two different “cuts” of the film.

And it showed.

Again, I enjoyed myself while watching it but, unlike BvS, the flaws were such that I simply couldn’t recommend the film in that form.  Like BvS, I suspect the folks at Warners/DC will release the two alternate cuts of the film and make themselves a whole bunch of money in the process.

They’ll certainly have my money.  I’m most curious to see the director’s version of the film, reportedly a “darker” work that features much less humor.

But that’s what’s to come.

In the meantime and despite their success, I wonder how the folks at Marvel feel about these developments.  Yes, Captain America: Civil War made more money overall than either BvS or Suicide Squad but I wonder if maybe they’re starting to worry -at least a little- about how well the folks at DC have succeeded despite all those major obstacles thrown their way in the form of critical panning and online criticism.  Further, with summer all but gone it seems very few people are talking about the Captain America film yet there remains considerable discussion regarding BvS and Suicide Squad, a sure sign both films remain a hot topic, for better or ill.

What’s most encouraging about these successes (and, the bottom line is that all these films, DC and Marvel, succeeded) is my hope they encourage each other to produce better and better works.

I’m a firm believer in the notion that competition leads to better products, whether it be music, books, movies, cell phones, cars, etc. etc. etc.

When a company sees another succeed, it can’t help but make them work all that much harder in creating something better.  In the end, the ones who most benefit from such competition are the fans.

Let’s hope, anyway!