There was a great deal of hype surrounding the release of director David Ayer's Suicide Squad. The marketing machine was in full swing – it was vibrant, musical, edgy and explosive, it focused on Will Smith's Deadshot, Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and Jared Leto's Joker, it teased Batman, and most of all it plain and simply looked like a hell of a lot fun.

As the first non-Superman centric entry in the blossoming DC Extended Universe of movies, Warner Bros. was hoping for Suicide Squad to connect with audiences in a way the disappointing Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice couldn't. However, when the highly-anticipated movie was finally released, the reception was lukewarm at best, and, depending on who you believe, wholly disastrous at worst.

The film was critically panned, with both audiences and critics lamenting its lack of focus, its wonky editing, its uninspired story and its complete lack of Joker. However, the movie did manage to earn a sizable amount of money at the box-office, which in turn prompted Warner Bros. to swiftly green light a sequel. While it's been over a year since we've known that a sequel was planned, Suicide Squad 2 is now a project that is reportedly on the fast-track. In fact, it was only a few short days ago that Variety reported that The Accountant director Gavin O'Connor has been tapped to write the film and is actively in talks to direct.

RELATED: Suicide Squad 2 Enlists Gavin O'Connor as Writer & Director

With such a strong director potentially in its corner, it's entirely possible for Warner Bros., to avoid the pitfalls of the first movie and give us the Suicide Squad film we've always wanted, a movie that the fans deserve. Here's how:

Take The Time To Get The Story Right

It's difficult to deny that David Ayer is a great director; just looking at his extensive filmography is enough proof of that. However, it's been widely reported that the writer-director only had a few short weeks to write Suicide Squad's script. That was clearly not enough time to polish a story that has to accommodate so many characters with so many different backgrounds, and it could be one of the reasons why the movie lacked so much focus. It only seemed to grow worse from there, with an increasing number of reports that claim Warner Bros. meddled greatly with the final cut of the movie, with the studio even reportedly going so far as hiring a movie trailer company to do the editing of the film. Somewhere along the way, the director and the studio found themselves unable to see eye-to-eye as to the direction of the story, something that should have been decided upon long before the cameras rolled.

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Gavin O'Connor co-wrote and directed the deeply moving, brutal and cathartic Warrior in 2011, a movie starring Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as rival estranged brothers fighting in a UFC competition. He more recently directed 2016's The Accountant, starring Ben Affleck as an number-crunching vigilante, a movie that has been interpreted as a darker, more serious and realistic take on an original superhero property. The movie proved successful, and a sequel is actively in the works.

O'Connor's movies have their very own rhythm, one that is greatly different from Suicide Squad. Thus, Warner Bros. would do well to give O'Connor not only all the time he needs to work on the movie's story, the studios should make a point not to interfere with his vision when it comes to editing the film. Warner Bros. already has a working relationship with the director, who has already proven himself successful, so it should be relatively easy to step back and let O'Connor do what he does best.

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Tell A Smaller, Simpler Story

The most surprising aspect of the first Suicide Squad may have been the decision to make it a magical story with an end-of-the-world scenario. Ask anyone who has ever read a Suicide Squad comic book, and they'll likely tell you that the team's stories tend to be much smaller, and rarely directly involve the fate of the entire world. They typically occur on small islands or far away countries, in the dead of night. After all, the Squad is Task Force X, an expendable strike team that is not unlike a black ops unit. They are at their best when dealing with things they understand, in a world with rules that they are familiar with. No magical monsters are necessary to make their missions compelling – just a villain who can stand on equal ground with them.

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In retrospect, even David Ayer himself wished he could be able to go back in time and make two very different changes to the first film. The first, to make the story more grounded, and second, to make the Joker the main villain of the piece. One need look only at The Accountant and Warrior to see that Gavin O'Connor excels at telling grounded stories. Both movies felt like they occurred in a real, brutal world – the perfect type of world for the Suicide Squad to inhabit. The Accountant further proved that the director can deliver when it comes to military-style operations and action, something that should be brought over into Suicide Squad 2. The sequel doesn't need an Enchantress and a horde of faceless monsters -- it needs more grounded villains, like a larger presence of Jared Leto's Joker.

A Focus On Characters

While Suicide Squad wasn't the all-out success Warner Bros. wanted it to be, the movie did manage to give standout characters Harley Quinn and the Joker enough of a spotlight that the pair have almost become their very own entity in the DCEU, despite reportedly leaving much of Jared Leto's Joker left on the cutting room floor. We sure hope that the production team sees the strength in the character and opts to bring him back in a bigger and darker capacity. The Bat-villain's over-the-top design, as well as the rest of the Squad's more gangster-influenced looks, were a departure from what longtime fans expected, something that some considered to leave a lot to be desired. With that in mind, a more grounded approach would be a great way to tone these characters down visually, and instead let their personalities speak for themselves.

Harley and the Joker weren't the only standout characters of the film, of course; there was also Will Smith's Deadshot and Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang. All of these characters should be brought back for the sequel, to create a sense of continuity between the movies, and for the audience to get the sense that they have grown as a “team.” But it's also important not to overcrowd the movie. Thanks to the inclusion of Killer Croc, Diablo, Rick Flag and Katana, the first movie felt very cluttered, with many of these characters' arcs, personalities and standout moments falling by the wayside. A smaller cast would be the right way to go here, allowing the movie to actually focus on its characters, and develop them accordingly as the story progresses – a particular skill O'Conner has already proven to be in his arsenal.

RELATED:Jared Leto Says He is Committed to Playing the Joker Long-Term

The focus on a smaller team of characters would also allow the members of the Squad to act as they truly should – as villains. The first movie told us that's what these characters were, many times over, but we never actually got much chance to see them being villainous. They were too busy saving the world. It's time to let the despicable Boomerang throw his boomerangs with ill intent, time for Deadshot to face his death wish, and time for Harley to become fully independent. These are damaged characters with fragile egos and many, many dangerous faults -- faults that need to shine.

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Suicide Squad may have ultimately disappointed, but it did manage to lay the groundwork from which to build a successful franchise. With Gavin O'Connor at the helm, we could be looking at a new direction for the sequel, one more in line with Zack Snyder's darker, more grounded vision of the DCEU. Don't count the Suicide Squad out just yet. They still have some fight left in them, and they have already proven that they can beat the odds. Just don't call them heroes.