In a surprising development for the increasingly-tumultuous career of James Gunn, the writer-director of Marvel Studios’Guardians of the Galaxyis jumping ship to DC Films with a newSuicide Squadfilm. This comes afterGunn was firedfromGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3after alt-right figures unearthed inappropriate and offensive old tweets from Gunn, who is reported to write and possibly direct this DC movie.
The news comes fromThe Wrap—according to the report, this proposedSuicide Squadmovie will not be a direct sequel toDavid Ayers’s 2016 Academy Award-winning attempt, but will rather be a “completely new take” on the property. Whether this constitutes some sort of reboot, recasting, or just some sort of standalone sequel is unclear at this point.
Gunn isn’t the first Marvel Studios alum to work with DC and Warner Bros.—Patty Jenkins directedWonder Woman(and isfilming the sequel) after leavingThor: The Dark Worldfor creative differences, and Joss Whedonsigned up to make aBatgirlfilm(whichhe eventually dropped out of) and is a credited writer forJustice Leaguewho also directed reshoots for the film.
The film adaptation ofSuicide Squadwas already a bit of aGuardians of the Galaxyknock-off: you have a ragtag team full of scoundrels, banding together as unlikely friends to defeat a more powerful evil, all while classic songs play in the background. Seeing howSuicide Squadis abhorred while the Academy Award-nominated/losingGuardiansfilms are celebrated, this move is overall strange and a bit confusing, but seeing how DC and WB also got the freakingAvengersdirector in an attempt to “fix”Justice League, it makes sense from the studio’s perspective. We are left to wonder what happened to theSuicide Squad 2thatWB hiredThe Accountantdirector Gavin O’Connorfor, but I seriously doubt anyone will miss that project.
James Gunn in Talks to Write ‘Suicide Squad 2’ for DC, Eyed to Direct[The Wrap]
