Could a scoundrel DC Comics character like Peacemaker ever be on the same level as Superman? How about Polka-Dot Man? Or Ratcatcher?
The man who made Rocket Racoon, Groot and Star-Lord household names thinks so. James Gunn can鈥檛 help it: He loves an outsider. It鈥檚 the reason why when offered the chance to make a movie with any DC character he wanted, he chose not Superman but the misfits of 鈥淭he Suicide Squad.鈥�
Nevermind that there was a terribly reviewed 鈥淪uicide Squad鈥� movie released just five years ago. Gunn, a lifelong fan of the good-for-nothing supervillains, had his own vision: It would be a mash-up of genres and pay homage to 1960s war capers. He鈥檇 dust off some obscure, deep cut DC supervillains that no casual moviegoer would ever be expected to know and get a giant alien starfish villain named Starro in the mix.
Warner Bros. said yes. And it wouldn鈥檛 have to be PG-13 either.
Though bold, it鈥檚 not entirely surprising: Not only had Gunn turned the 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy鈥� into A-list Avengers, he was also at the time ( and ) a free agent. While David Ayer鈥檚 2016 鈥淪uicide Squad鈥� might have been a critical disaster, it was still a financial hit. In other words, a second movie, regardless of whether it was a sequel, a reboot, a re-do, or none of those things (which this is) was not out of the question.
Yes, it features some of the same actors playing the same characters, like Margot Robbie鈥檚 Harley Quinn, Joel Kinnaman鈥檚 Rick Flag, Viola Davis鈥檚 Amanda Waller and Jai Courtney鈥檚 Boomerang. But as Robbie said, Gunn鈥檚 鈥淭he Suicide Squad,鈥� which debuts in theaters and on HBO Max on Aug. 6, is 鈥渏ust a different thing,鈥� even if it does essentially bear the same name.
Otherwise the similarities are few. Gunn鈥檚
鈥淭his movie is not a family film,鈥� Gunn said. 鈥淢y dad would take me to see this movie if I was 12 or 13 and I don鈥檛 think it would be a big deal. But if you get younger than that, it鈥檚 kind of weird.鈥�
And already it has one big advantage over Ayer鈥檚: The reviews are stellar.
鈥溾�橳he Suicide Squad鈥� is something no one鈥檚 ready for, but everybody needs,鈥� said John Cena. 鈥淓veryone will leave the theater satisfied.鈥�
The WWE star plays Peacemaker, a deranged Captain America-type who will proudly 鈥渒ill any man, woman or child鈥� to maintain the peace.
Part of that might have to do with the fact that Gunn, who wrote and directed, had free reign to do whatever he wanted, which included killing off any character he wanted, too.
鈥淛ames really knew what he wanted to make and from the pitch to the script to the pre-production, it never deviated,鈥� said producer Charles Roven.
That involved assembling both characters and actors that didn鈥檛 make immediate sense together.
鈥淚t does have this postmodern vibe,鈥� Gunn said. 鈥淓ach of these superheroes came from a different genre. Bloodsport is sort of a grim, dark thing and Polka-Dot Man is from some goofy old cartoon and Peacemaker鈥檚 from a dumb 70s TV show and Ratcatcher is from almost like a 鈥楽aw鈥� type of movie or something. And they鈥檙e all coming together. The actors were like that, too. They all have their own styles and different ways of going about it. And it really is my job as a director to make them all on the same page.鈥�
He called on some of his mainstays, like Nathan Fillion, who he鈥檚 been friends with since Gunn鈥檚 debut 鈥淪lither,鈥� and Michael Rooker, who he clicked with on 鈥淕uardians.鈥� Even Sylvester Stallone (also in 鈥淕uardians鈥�) agreed to voice the dim-witted, flesh-eating King Shark. But Gunn didn鈥檛 just go with safe choices. He also cast an unknown Portuguese actor in her first American film, Daniela Melchior, as an unknown villain: Ratcatcher II. And already she鈥檚 being singled out as making a breakthrough.
For Bloodsport, a sharpshooter character that would require not just action know-how but comedic acumen, he enlisted Idris Elba. And it was a welcome departure for the actor.
鈥淚 was a fan of his and he was a fan of my potential. He wanted me to play a character that he hadn鈥檛 seen me play,鈥� Elba said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been trying to do some comedy for years and never get a shot. I don鈥檛 know what it is about me. I鈥檓 really goofy. I dad-joke everyone to death.鈥�
Cena came aboard as Peacemaker who spars frequently with Bloodsport. Their banter, Cena said, 鈥渃ame naturally.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 extremely witty,鈥� Cena said. 鈥淗e has that kind of a UK flavor and I鈥檓 so much more over the top that it really does go together well.鈥�
Everyone got along famously. It鈥檚 part of Gunn鈥檚 process to ensure he鈥檚 enlisting a group of decent humans. He even called his ex-wife, Jenna Fischer, who鈥檇 worked with Elba briefly on 鈥淭he Office鈥� to make sure the actor wasn鈥檛 a jerk. (Fischer had only lovely things to say about Elba).
鈥淚t鈥檚 an interesting thing when you have a big group of often big personalities put together to see how that balances out,鈥� Robbie said. She described their dynamic as 鈥渁 lot of laughing, joking.鈥�
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 why a lot of those scenes feel so real and fun. It was also like that in between takes and when we weren鈥檛 shooting. It was a really, really good group,鈥� she said.
鈥淭he Suicide Squad鈥� was an epic production, too, boasting the biggest sets in Warner Bros. history. (This from the studio behind modern epics like 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� and 鈥淭he Dark Knight.鈥�)
They even finished on time and under budget. And, over the pandemic, Gunn squeezed in a Peacemaker spin-off miniseries for HBO Max.
It鈥檚 why Gunn has gotten so much freedom from some of the biggest shops in the movie business. He was even rehired on 鈥淕uardians 3鈥� in short order (which he鈥檚 been working on non-stop on the weekends). He doesn鈥檛 mind if there鈥檚 some extra pressure now because of the successes.
鈥淚 love taking actors that people don鈥檛 know 鈥� people like Daniela Melchior or even Chris Pratt back when that was happening, or Pom Klementieff 鈥� and putting them on the worldwide stage, getting people to see how great they are. I love taking songs by people鈥� like K. Flay and Grandson鈥� and putting it on a grand stage,鈥� Gunn said. 鈥淚 love the idea that everybody has purpose and everybody has meaning, no matter how insignificant you feel.鈥�
He added: 鈥淏eing able to elevate things that aren鈥檛 always propped up by society, being able to put Peacemaker on the same level as Batman and Superman is cool to me.鈥�
鈥擫indsey Bahr, The Associated Press
