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The DC Extended Universe has had a unique life in theaters, full of peaks and valleys. But Warner Bros. seems to have hit its stride over the past few years, releasing a slew of critically acclaimed projects. There are some highly anticipated blockbusters heading down the line, chief among them being James Gunn's The Suicide Squad. The villain-centric movie will feature a mixture of new and returning characters, and the filmmaker recently teased how he approached upcoming character deaths.
As their name suggests, The Suicide Squad aka Task Force X is made up of a group of villains and prisoners, many of which won't make it out of the mission alive. While David Ayer only killed off Slipknot in the 2017 original, James Gunn has been teasing how his DC debut won't be as kind to its ensemble cast. The Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker recently addressed this, saying:
But in The Suicide Squad, some of the characters end up being good, some end up being terrible. They don’t just get in fights and say they’re going to kill each other, they actually do get in fights and kill each other. You really don’t know who’s going to live and who’s going to die. I was given full freedom to kill anyone – and I mean anyone – by DC.
Well, this is intriguing. It looks like James Gunn was given the ability to kill off any of The Suicide Squad's cast of DC characters. And considering just how massive the team is this time around, there's no telling how many members of Task Force X will fall throughout the course of the movie's runtime. Only time will tell.
The original Suicide Squad is currently available on HBO Max. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.
James Gunn's comments to Empire are sure to excite DC fans who are hoping to see more blood and death in The Suicide Squad. As previously mentioned, David Ayer's 2017 original movie came up short in this department. But as the director has been open about studio interference for that original movie, perhaps Ayer originally intended to kill off more of the cast.
James Gunn's above comments specifically mention that anybody can die in The Suicide Squad. Still, I doubt characters like Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn are going anywhere. Harley has become one of the most popular characters in the entire DCEU, with James Gunn's upcoming blockbuster marking her third appearance on the big screen following her spinoff Birds of Prey. Smart money says Robbie and Harley will find a way to survive their mission, and continue her tenure in the shared universe.
As for the rest of the group, seemingly anyone could perish throughout the course of The Suicide Squad's mysterious runtime. James Gunn has stacked the cast with plenty of household names, most of which are playing unknown characters from DC lore. Using these lesser known villains should make it even easier to kill them off, we'll just have to see exactly how Gunn does so.
The Suicide Squad is currently set to arrive in theaters on August 6th, 2021. In the meantime, check out our 2021 release list to plan your trips to the movies next year.
