In the eight-month interim between when he was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and then rehired by Disney, filmmaker James Gunn leaped to the DC Extended Universe and signed on to write and direct The Suicide Squad. We’re still a ways off from learning what the next adventure starring the officially-designated Task Force X is about, but according to Sean Gunn, who’s collaborated with his brother on multiple projects, James Gunn’s script is impressive. As Sean Gunn put it:
I know that [James is] very excited about shooting and now that I have read the script for it and I will say nothing other than that it's really good. And I know that he's pretty jazzed about it, so I'm definitely excited to hear what happens next. But they start shooting soon.
It remains to be seen if Sean Gunn will appear in The Suicide Squad, having previously worked in the comic book adaptation realm with his brother by playing Kraglin and the on-set Rocket Raccoon in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies (I suspect he’ll get a role). But as he told Comicbook.com, Sean Gunn’s already read The Suicide Squad, liked the explosive story and is looking forward to seeing what unfolds next in the creative process.
While 2016’s Suicide Squad was a commercial success for Warner Bros and DC, making nearly $747 million worldwide, it took a critical beating. So fingers crossed that Sean Gunn’s assessment that James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad script is “very good” is accurate and that this follow-up improves the team’s cinematic reputation. Then again, looking at James Gunn’s body of work, the chances of this movie being entertaining (at the very least) are likelier than not.
James Gunn officially boarded The Suicide Squad in October of last year, bringing an end to years of directors coming and going from the project, including Jaume Collet-Serra and Gavin O’Connor. As Sean Gunn noted, The Suicide Squad is scheduled to begin this fall, with James Gunn delivering that movie before he resumes work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Although The Suicide Squad is reportedly being framed as more of a relaunch than a direct Suicide Squad sequel (though James Gunn won’t comment on that), there will be several familiar faces returning: Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang, Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller and Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag.
As for new faces, they include David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher, Idris Elba as a yet-to-be-identified character (he was originally supposed to take over as Deadshot from Will Smith) and Storm Reid as the daughter of Elba’s character. John Cena has been eyed to play Peacemaker, Benicio del Toro is rumored to be playing the main villain and King Shark will also reportedly show up. But don’t expect to see Batman.
The Suicide Squad opens in theaters on August 5, 2021, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. In the meantime, look through our DC movies guide to learn what else this franchise has coming down the pipeline.
