The Suicide Squad Is ‘Fully Finished,’ & James Gunn Had Complete Creative Control

It seems that “creative control” is the name of the game for superhero movies at the moment. Yesterday we heard how Chloé Zhao was able to make Eternals out of a “different DNA” than the rest of the Marvel universe, and today we find James Gunn praising Warner Bros. for staying hands-off on The Suicide Squad. The director, in response to a question about his creative control of the film, also revealed that The Suicide Squad is completely finished and ready to go.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1357480544884281344

James Gunn’s freedom on The Suicide Squad is in stark contrast to Warner Bros.’ first attempt at adapting the comic onto the screen. Director David Ayer made the much-maligned Suicide Squad, but the film was cut up and allegedly forced into a comedy by WB after he finished directing, leaving him to hope that he can someday have his own version of “The Snyder Cut.” Of course, the film still made a ton of money, so the studio brought in Gunn — after he was temporarily fired from Guardians of the Galaxy 3 — to do a soft reboot on it.

The Suicide Squad seems far more straightforward than the first film according to the recently released official synopsis. The basic setup is that a bunch of bad guys are getting dropped on an island with other bad guys, and then they’re going to shoot each other. With a massive cast, including the return of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and a list of B-grade villains acting like idiots, it should be a good time:

“Welcome to hell — a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.

“Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and- destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.”

James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad will release on HBO Max and theatrically on Aug. 6. That’s not the only Suicide Squad action we’ll be getting, however, as the film already has an HBO Max spin-off series starring John Cena’s Peacemaker in the works.