The late 2000s saw the birth of the superhero film genre and since then few can hold a claim to understanding it as well as The Suicide Squad director James Gunn. However, when asked about it recently, he was the first to say they really don’t make them like they used to.
Gunn's talent as both a screenplay writer and director was instrumental in making the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise as well known as it is today, up to the point that Star-Lord and the rest of Guardians of the Galaxy are getting a triple-A video game. The unique blend of humor and action that he brought to the Guardians films is precisely what convinced DC to book him for The Suicide Squad as Warner Bros. desperately tries to close the gap between the Justice League cohort and the Avengers.
In a recent interview for SFX Magazine, Gunn made the bold claim that superhero movies “are mostly boring to me right now!” This definitely comes off as a puzzling remark considering he still has work pending in the genre with the upcoming Peacemaker and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. To be clear, Gunn explained his take does not apply to everything being made today, because “there are still people trying to do different things.” Gunn referred to the mixture of superheroes with other genres as the defining element to make Marvel and DC’s offerings seem interesting.
For his part, Gunn said his vision for The Suicide Squad involves making it a “supervillain war caper film” inspired by old movies like The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare. Essentially, this gives him free license to write a script within a genre he loved growing up with the added benefit of having all the CGI might superhero blockbusters allow for.
Unfortunately, Gunn did not comment on which superhero movies he found boring or fun, which is a real shame considering how open he tends to be on his Twitter account, even sharing very specific details about his work with fans. His statement does seem to echo something other writers and directors have picked up on since both WandaVision and Loki really deviate from being the typical run-of-the-mill Marvel spectacle.
The stark contrast between Disney Plus’ exclusives with the just-released Black Widow is there for anyone to see, not only because of the extra liberties available in the series format but mainly because Black Widow appears to belong in an older MCU era. Whatever the case, it’s safe to assume Gunn will try his best to be anything but boring with his Guardians of the Galaxy swan song.
The Suicide Squad will debut in North American theaters on August 6, 2021.
Source: GamesRadar+