Rumours abound that James Gunn may take the reigns of Warner/DC’s Suicide Squad 2.
In what sounds like a prediction uttered by many a comic book movie nerd in reaction to James Gunn being fired by Disney, it now appears that the writer/director of both of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies is switching sides and moving over to the DC Universe as reports emerge that Gunn will take on the writing and possibly even directorial duties for the proposed Suicide Squad sequel.
Whilst this may come as a surprise to some, it does actually make sense with the original director David Ayer having a pretty full slate with an upcoming sequel to the Will Smith starring and Netflix produced sequel to Bright, not to mention him also possibly being linked to DC’s mooted Birds of Prey movie.
There’s also speculation that the proposed sequel will not be a direct sequel to Ayer’s movie and may even feature different characters or even the same characters being taken in a new direction.
Gunn, who has been pretty low key since his firing over some rather controversial but decade old tweets, would seem an ideal fit for the project, having already proven that he’s more than capable of bringing lesser known comic book properties to the big screen, plus a move to DC would easily be seen as a huge slap in the face for Disney should he make another successful movie, which to be fair, both DC and Warner Bros could do with. The Marvel Studios rival has had only the first Wonder Woman movie proving to be a major critical success to cling to at the moment.
Gunn does still have support from his previous Guardians cast, with many of the actors signing a petition against his dismissal, in particular Dave Bautista, who has even gone as far as stating that he would ask Disney to release him from his future commitments to return as Drax The Destroyer. Could this eventually lead to him being reunited with his friend Gunn? The DCEU may find the ideal candidate to fill the boots of Solomon Grundy.
Sources: iO9, Nerdist.