We have recently learned that James Gunn, randomly disgraced director and writer of Guardians of the Galaxy Volumes 1 and 2 and the criminally underrated Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, has taken on the next Suicide Squad movie for Warner Brothers. Don’t worry, you weren’t the only one who forgot that Suicide Squad was a movie, let alone a movie that earned a sequel. Perhaps the person most excited about the news is Margot Robbie, DC’s Harley Quinn actress, simply due to that fact the she can rest her back from carrying the garbage fire that is DC Cinematic’s rogues gallery (with the exception of Black Manta, of course; Yahya, you’re doing wonderful, sweetie). Here’s what we know about Gunn’s DC project so far.
It is set to be a reboot rather than a sequel.
I know, how will fans be able to cope with never knowing what becomes of our beloved Suiciders–wow, gotta workshop that name–following whatever the hell the plot from the original movie was? This decision honestly makes sense: the first Suicide Squad really didn’t do any world-building for DC and WB. If anything, it did quite the opposite, somehow ignoring the inherently awesome nature of a sword that captures the souls of its victims for the fact that the Joker has Tourette’s and El Diablo is really fast at making familial bonds. With the original Suicide Squad bringing nothing revolutionary to the table, the title could stand to be rebooted for the better and let Gunn realize his full creative vision rather than be put in a sequel-shaped box.
It will probably feature a new team.
While some might be surprised by this, this makes perfect sense to me. Supposedly, Gunn is pulling from the original 80s Suicide Squad, meaning that few characters from the last installment will likely appear in the reboot. When examined, this is a good move: Harley Quinn was always much larger than the Suicide Squad title, as seen by her prominence in advertising for Birds of Prey, a team that she never even was a part of. Thus, Margot Robbie’s acting talents will be utilized in other titles, leaving Suicide Squad ground for new talent to take the stage. I personally would love to see some relatively unknown actors be featured in the movie; with character names like King Shark and Nightshade up for the movie, there’s low expectations for casting meaning that Gunn can go as crazy as he’d like to. And let’s be honest, everyone: there was no way Warner Bros was gonna come up with enough money to make Will Smith say the line, “Some kind of suicide squad,” on film every again.
Gunn’s social media privileges will be taken away during production and marketing for the movie.
This is kind of a joke, but I wouldn’t be surprised. After the fiasco that arose from Gunn’s decade-old tweets, we have learned that the man can’t be trusted with the power of social media 10 years ago when everyone else in the world was a saint that never said or did anything wrong ever. When I first made this joke, I caught myself thinking, “Well surely he’s learned his lesson,” but what the hell lesson was he supposed to learn with 10-year retrospect? “Well, James, one joke in ill-taste will make everyone completely forget the massive gender and racial inclusivity you’ve brought into the superhero movie world, so don’t even try being clever on Twitter or else the only comic book property you’ll get to make a movie for is a Spawn remake, and God knows nobody asked for that.”
Wait…
I for one am excited to see what Gunn brings to the table. He’s a proven director and writer when it comes to handling team-oriented titles, and DC needs a more stable creative spirit behind them if they want to even start catching up to what Marvel has built. However, what this development hasn’t done is clarify what WB is even trying to do with their comic book endeavors. So far, Warner Brothers has given us some stellar casting paired with questionable writing and directing moves, showing a clear disconnect between what they want to make and what any reasonable fan would want. Some media outlets have reported that WB offered Gunn the helm of a Superman movie before he landed on Suicide Squad, which begs the question: You have a tried and true filmmaker who specializes in quirky, unlikely-hero characters, and your initial move is to give him Superman? Who are they gonna get to direct “The Batman,” the Wayan brothers? Is Tommy Wiseau gonna get his next big movie with Flashpoint?
Actually, I take it back. I wanna see that last one.
