Among the most remarkable aspects of James Gunn's upcoming sequel-ish film The Suicide Squad is how the franchise-hopping director was able to not only make the film the way he wanted but that he also managed to do so without ever resorting to re-shoots. This basically suggests that he was in full control the entire time, and according to Gunn himself, Warner Bros. was only too happy to let that happen, though they did have one suggestion regarding Harley Quinn.
While The Suicide Squad is technically (sort of) a sequel to David Ayer's 2016 film Suicide Squad, many fans were quick to notice that it featured only a handful of returning characters, including Viola Davis as team creator Amanda Waller and Margot Robbie as breakfast sandwich enthusiast (and star of the criminally underrated Birds of Prey) Harley Quinn. Well, it turns out that the latter almost didn't happen, and even then, it only came about due to a gentle suggestion from the studio.
According to Gunn, Warner Bros. was always fully supportive of him as the director as well as of his creative vision, content to stand back and just let him work without meddling in the production of The Suicide Squad. "I wanted it to be its own thing completely," he said in an interview with The New York Times. "[Warner Bros.] said, listen, we would love it if Margot's in the movie but she doesn't have to be. You could come up with all new characters or you could keep all the same characters."
That freed up Gunn to do things his own way, but his inclusion of Harley Quinn alongside other past characters like Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag might show that he wanted to show his respect for the studio and for Ayer's previous film. Granted, Robbie's performance as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad (ridiculous outfit aside) and Birds of Prey should be more than enough to warrant her inclusion even without a nudge from the studio. It would certainly be a great excuse to see more women in action movies.
Knowing that Gunn was in pretty much complete control of The Suicide Squad is enough to make any eager fan even more excited. Modern comic book movies tend to be pretty tightly regulated by the studios behind them since many of them are meant to be part of a bigger picture. So it will be refreshing to not only see a film like this with that much more creative freedom behind it but just to see one that's largely separated from the rest of its brethren.
There aren't that many standalone superhero movies out there these days. Of course, The Suicide Squad is less of a superhero movie and more of an R-rated superpowered showcase of carnage, so it might not technically count. But it will certainly feel freeing to watch a new comic book movie that doesn't require a 7-day binge of other material just to understand what's going on.
The Suicide Squad will be released in theaters and on HBO Max on August 5, 2021.
Source: The New York Times