#New trailer for ‘The Suicide Squad’ has giant starfish alien

A promising new trailer for James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” just dropped, depicting Harley Quinn and DC villains opposing a giant starfishlike alien — and offering redemption for fans disappointed by its predecessor.

The trailer ran solely as a YouTube ad, but actors from the film leaked a version of the trailer online Tuesday.

This new teaser comes three months after the release of the first trailer, which suggested that the film would be rated R. The red-band trailer showcased Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Blackguard (Pete Davidson), Thinker (Peter Capaldi) and King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone), among other new cast members.

The new trailer begins by introducing Bloodsport, who put “Superman in the ICU with a kryptonite bullet.” Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) reveals that she needs a team of villains now that a giant monster is on the attack after something went awry with “Project Starfish.”

“Each member was chosen for his or her own completely unique set of abilities,” Waller says in the trailer.

The trailer features a tense scene in which Bloodsport showdowns with Waller, revealing that Bloodsport will lead this iteration of the Suicide Squad — which was led by Rick Flag in the 2016 film “Suicide Squad.”

While on the spacecraft, the villains jokingly riff on Weasel, a Stanford University graduate who was driven to become a murderer after people called him derogatory names such as the scheming mammal moniker.

“He’s harmless,” said Flag (Joel Kinnaman). “Well, he’s not harmless, he’s killed 27 children.”

In another shot, Waller stands in front of a lecture hall alongside Flag and Peacemaker. Many action sequences follow, and viewers meet DC villains such as Polka-Dot Man, the Thinker and Ratcatcher 2.

Gunn kept around Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Davis’ Amanda Waller and Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang from the 2016 film. Most of the villains are new to the Squad, with Will Smith notably absent.

The 2016 film “Suicide Squad” by David Ayer — starring Robbie, Smith, Jared Leto, Davis and David Harbour — hauled in $746.8 million at the global box office, but was met with harsh criticism. Film critics lambasted the flick for its muddled plot, choppy directing and underdeveloped characters. The Post’s Kyle Smith wrote: “What promised to be a Super Bowl of villainy turned out more like toddler playtime.”

The sour taste following the 2016 film left many uncertain about “The Suicide Squad.” However, when Gunn was taken off the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films in July 2018 by Marvel after insensitive jokes, Warner Bros. quickly enlisted Gunn for this forthcoming movie, which is not a sequel. The director was then rehired in March 2019 to do “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which means he’s now directing films for both DC and Marvel.

“The Suicide Squad” hits theaters and HBO Max on August 6.