New ‘Suicide Squad’ Footage Confirms El Diablo Originally Survived

If you came out of Suicide Squad with tears in your eyes that Jay Hernandez’ El Diablo died in the battle against Enchantress and her brother Incubus, then this latest report will only twist the knife: El Diablo not only could’ve survived, he originally did survive!

This little discrepancy was picked up on when VFX Artist Francisco Franco posted his demo reel onto Vimeo. Franco worked on Suicide Squad, and apparently one of the shots he reworked took place after the Squad has defeated Incubus. In the shot, El Diablo is seen standing with the other members of the Suicide Squad – with a comparative shot revealing the altered scene where El Diablo had been removed.

Suicide Squad is now infamous for its extensive reshoots, where Warner Bros. stepped in and altered the original plans that director David Ayer had for the film. Fans weren’t exactly universally impressed with the final product, but the film did go on to earn $746M worldwide, had a hit soundtrack, and even earned itself an Oscar. It’s no surprise then that Warner Bros. will be moving forward with Suicide Squad 2 – after Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn steps out in her own Birds of Prey spinoff movie.

…And that brings us to the issue with El Diablo. Unless a Suicide Squad sequel pulls some supernatural trickery (not recommended), then that character is out of the franchise, despite being one of its best characters. The former Latin gangbanger actually had some substance, with a tormented pacifism that ultimately had to be set aside to service a greater good. This is just one more example of what could’ve been in the world of the DC Extended Universe, and more fuel for the “#ReleaseTheSnyderCut” sector of the fandom, who have long been cataloguing Warner Bros.’ meddling and mishandling of its DC movies.

Would you have liked El Diablo to have survived Suicide Squad? Let us know in the comments!

Upcoming DC Extended Universe films include Aquaman on December 21st, Shazam on April 5, 2019, and Wonder Woman 2 on November 1, 2019.