James Gunn Has Revealed How Seriously He Took ‘The Suicide Squad’s Source Material Before Writing His Script

Birds Of Prey, the lone Suicide Suicide spinoff since David Ayer’s 2016 movie, received a new title after underperforming at the box-office. That’s despite Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn arguably being the most popular member of that assembing of supervillains. Perhaps Harley was simply better off in small doses, or perhaps the wrong Harley movie got made, or maybe the nonsensical 2016 movie scared folks off from further franchise efforts. No matter the reason, Warner Bros. must be least a little bit nervous about how James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad relaunch will fare with ticket buyers in 2021.

Well, Gunn did one of his impromptu Q&A sessions on Instagram on Monday night, and maybe that will set some comic book fans’ minds at ease. Comic Book nabbed some screencaps that prove that Gunn dug deep into the source material. As in, he read every single Suicide Squad issue that’s been released:

“Well before writing Suicide Squad I reread every single Suicide Squad comic,” Gunn said in response to a fan who asked how much research he does before writing the script for a movie.

That’s pretty extensive research, actually, and it means that Gunn dug through the many Silver Age and Post-Crisis volumes, along with the Deadshot spinoffs (although he’s shelving Deadshot for Will Smith’s possible return in a future movie). In addition, he pored through the Most Wanted miniseries and the Rebirth volumes, so it’s safe to say that he’s not taking the matter lightly. One can also bet that he will achieve the right tone in this relaunch and bring the spirit of the material to life, rather than waste focus on blob people and a whispering Enchantress. Honestly, yeah, I am a little bit worried about whether fans will return to the franchise and give Gunn’s efforts to a fair shot.

In addition, Gunn revealed that he wants to make “two” other DC movies, which he apparently had a shot at directing before settling upon The Suicide Squad. That’s the whole reveal, and Gunn says that “maybe you’ll find out someday (but not today).”

The Suicide Squad stars Joel Kinnaman, Idris Elba, Pete Davidson, Margot Robbie, John Cena, Peter Capaldi, David Dastmalchian, Jai Courtney, Viola Davis Steve Agee, and more (sadly, no Slipknot). The relaunch arrives on August 6, 2021.

(Via Comic Book)

Written by: Uproxx