David Ayer’s Bright Looks Like Suicide Squad 2.0 in New Teaser

On the heels of the Internet-tickling news that Suicide Squad is now an Oscar winner, a teaser for director David Ayer’s next feature dropped during last night’s awards broadcast, and it looks like … Suicide Squad. Will Smith is the leading man once more, there’s an orc that could easily pass for Killer Croc’s cousin, and the story seems to blend fantasy with the mean streets.

The synopsis of the Max Landis-penned film reads:

Set in an alternate present-day where humans, orcs, elves, and fairies have been co-existing since the beginning of time, Bright is [a] genre-bending action movie that follows two cops from very different backgrounds. Ward (Will Smith) and Jakoby (Joel Edgerton), embark on a routine patrol night and encounter a darkness that will ultimately alter the future and their world as they know it.

If it all looks and sounds a bit derivative, keep in mind that the teaser is barely more than 30 seconds long and the synopsis three sentences, so there’s hope yet for the film to come into its own. If Bright simply ends up being another Suicide Squad … well, at least Ayer and crew still have a shot at the golden statuette come Oscars 2018.

One more key detail to note is that the film will debut on Netflix, a fact that was announced nearly a year ago but continues to be striking, especially in light of last week’s news that the streaming behemoth has bought worldwide rights for Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable for a film as high-profile as Bright to premiere on the small screen, and yet here we are. Where this trend will take us remains to be seen, but let’s hope that theatrical moviegoing doesn’t die out in the coming years.

Bright is slated for a December 2017 release, though the specific date has yet to be disclosed.