In one of the biggest instances of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” adage, io9 is reporting, and Warner Bros has confirmed to Nerdist, James Gunn, fresh off of being let go by Disney/Marvel for decade-old bad-taste tweets, is writing DC’s Suicide Squad sequel, with the possibility of directing as well.This is a major, major get for DC, who has been struggling with every movie in their Extended Universe aside from the excellent Wonder Woman. Suicide Squad misfired, but made a lot of money, and a sequel was at one point going to be directed by David Ayer, who helmed the first part. io9 also reports Gunn’s sequel would not necessarily be a sequel to Ayer’s movie, but a completely new direction using the same or similar characters. A good move, we think.
The firing of Gunn by Disney’s Bob Iger over the summer effectively put the kibosh on the much anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, which would have been the swan song for the beloved group of intergalactic misfits. The actors in the franchise wrote a letter pleading for Gunn to be reinstated, but Iger stayed firm, causing many in the cast–notably Drax actor Dave Bautista–to sour on working within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and possibly not return should Guardians 3 eventually happen.Since the firing in July, Gunn has remained silent, deleting his Twitter account and laying low. A move to DC–which is in desperate need of creative direction–would be a definitive middle finger to Marvel for letting him go, and Gunn’s sensibilities would actually be perfect for the bad guys forced to do good of Suicide Squad. The first movie had plenty of great characters–Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Will Smith’s Deadshot the clear standouts–but it was a narrative mess, squandering a great concept with nonsensical plot contrivances, an underserved Joker subplot, and messy, distracting editing. Someone with a good grasp of story and making characters endearing, even if they’re reprehensible, is something Gunn has done time and again in his work.Plus, if Bautista is done playing Drax, our own Dan Casey thinks he’d make a great Solomon Grundy. Just saying, if you’re reading this, DC…
Image: Marvel/Warner Bros
