James Gunn got to do 'whatever he wanted' for his R-rated Suicide Squad
Or the joy of being able to make “a huge film without rules!”
Long before being hired to oversee the new DCU from Warner Bros., James Gunn made for them a blockbuster bringing together lots of super-villains: The Suicide Squad (2021), to be seen again this evening at 9:25 p.m. on TMC. A perfectly crazy film, which no longer has much to do with David Ayer's version released five years earlier, and which was then declined via the equally crazy series Peacemakerwith John Cena.
In July 2021, James Gunn assured in an interview with the magazine Empire having had permission to explore all the wildest delusions. Total freedom offered by the classification of the film in R-Rated (the maximum classification in the USA), including the director (to whom we also owe Guardians of the Galaxy) swore to have benefited greatly:
“With The Suicide Squad, I was able to do everything I wanted, go exactly where I wanted. By that I mean, even though Marvel really gives me a lot of freedom, I always make PG-13 films, for the widest possible audience. So this time, I loved this no-holds-barred approach, being able to make this huge film without rules!”
Superman almost became the big bad of The Suicide Squad
Clearly, James Gunn had a blast during filming, which producer Peter Safran confirms in the same interview:
“He told me it was the most fun film he'd ever worked on. And that fun just dripped through the entire production! It was an explosive experience, because we were able to really make a film of James Gunn without having to restrain yourself.”
Three years later, there is no longer any question of following up on The Suicide Squad, even if it is possible that certain characters will return within the new DCU. As Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, For example ? For the moment, priority is given to the new Supermanwhich Gunn is currently filming.
The Suicide Squad: the much darker ending originally planned