The villain is about to get his big payoff. Today is the day to watch "Suicide Squad" online and in theaters, a quasi-sequel and quasi-reboot of the 2016 film of the same name.

DC has tapped James Gunn, director of Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" series. And judging by excerpts from early "Suicide Squad" reviews, his version is likely to be more well received by fans and critics alike.

The Suicide Squad 2021 will return cast members from the previous film, including Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg. And new faces will be added: Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, and Sylvester Stallone as King Shark.

These supervillains join Waller's Task Force X for a chance at freedom. Waller assembles a team, arms them, and drops them on the island of Colt Malta. Their mission? To search for and destroy the local militant guerrilla forces. Of course, if they make a wrong move and try to betray the team, they die.

That's all you need to know to watch Suicide Squad 2021.

In the United States, "Suicide Squad" opened in theaters on Thursday, August 5. It was distributed on HBO Max at 7 p.m. ET the same day.

"Suicide Squad" was originally scheduled to be released on HBO Max on Friday, August 6, but director James Gunn announced the early release on Twitter (and revealed that August 5 was his birthday).

After its HBO Max debut, "Suicide Squad" will be in theaters for 31 days (or until September 4).

None of the Warner Bros. films are available on the ad-supported version of HBO Max.

Bad news for Canadians who want to watch "Suicide Squad 2021" at home; HBO Max is US-only, and the movie is not streaming on any other service.

The movie will be released in theaters on Friday, August 6.

If you are an American traveling abroad, you will need to look into the best VPN service to access all paid services.

In the UK, Brits were able to see "Suicide Squad 2021" in theaters earlier than Americans, as it was released on July 30.

HBO Max is not available in the UK, so those who want to watch it at home are out of luck.

Before we get into the critics' reactions to "Suicide Squad," let's hear from streaming editor Henry T. Casey, who saw the film in theaters on Thursday. In a morning meeting, Casey called "Suicide Squad" "the best DCEU movie by a mile (with the exception of "Birds of Prey")."

He noted that the film sometimes "feels a little disjointed, like two or three movies rolled into one," but still has "better comedy, action, and characters" than most recent superhero films.

Critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes were also thrilled that "Suicide Squad" received a high score of 93% and a "Certified Fresh" badge, with Larry Carroll of "Looper" writing that it was "the best Marvel movie DC has ever made and Chris Hewitt of the Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote, "As is often the case with superhero movies, it stands on its own." [Manohla Dargis of the NY Times wrote, "The violence is the most consistently inventive part of the whole package, but you grow weary of its pounding repetition," and Birge Ebiri of the New Yorker wrote, "The lack of narrative momentum and compelling character arcs begins to wear on you. The jokes also get old.