James Gunn isn’t prepared to tell us if The Suicide Squad is a reboot or not, but he may have a very good reason for that. The filmmaker hopped from the Marvel to the DC train after being fired from his gig directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a gig that he has since been rehired for. In any event, Gunn is now going to be the next person to bring DC’s super villain team to the big screen. There’s been some confusion about how this movie is going to be positioned and, as far is Gunn is concerned, we’re just going to have to wait and see for ourselves when it comes out.
BrightBurn is set to hit theaters this weekend, which James Gunn serves as a producer on. He’s been making the rounds to help promote it and, during a recent interview, he was asked specifically whether or not The Suicide Squad is a reboot. Gunn answered playfully, expressing his frustrating for the lack of flexibility with the terminology. Here’s what he had to say about it.
“You know, these terms are all so narrow. There’s so many terms. It is what it is. You’ll see in two years, when it comes out.”
There is evidence in both the sequel and reboot columns at this point. Viola Davis is set to reprise her role as Amanda Waller, Jai Courtney is coming back as Captain Boomerang and Margot Robbie is expected to return once more as Harley Quinn, all of whom appeared in director David Ayer’s 2016 Suicide Squad. However, since the studio isn’t calling this Suicide Squad 2, and since they’re bringing in a bunch of new characters, it sort of feels more like a reboot. Let’s also not forget that producer Peter Safran referred to the project as a “total reboot.”
While it seems like a bit of a stretch, it’s clear that this one is operating in something of a grey area. James Gunn, for his part, is probably being somewhat responsible by not making a declaration one way or the other. Were he to say, “it’s a reboot,” it would set a certain expectation. On the flipside, if Gunn says, “it’s a sequel,” it sets another very different expectation. For now, perhaps it’s best not to set an expectation one way or the other.
Related: The Suicide Squad Gets Ant-Man Actor David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man
What we know for sure is that the new roster includes David Dastmalchian as Polka Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher, John Cena as Peacemaker and Michael Rooker as King Shark. Idris Elba will also be one of the main stars. Originally, he was going to play Deadshot, replacing Will Smith. However, it was decided that Elba will ultimately play a different character, with some rumors suggesting he may be playing Deathstroke. Filming is expected to begin later this year. The Suicide Squad is set to arrive in theaters on August 6, 2021. Feel free to check out the interview clip from the Entertainment Tonight Twitter account below.
The #SuicideSquad sequel… “is what it is,” according to @JamesGunn. ? pic.twitter.com/5voXhcE2vp
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) May 22, 2019
