James Gunn Discusses Directing THE SUICIDE SQUAD and The Creative Freedom WB Gave Him Frightened Him

A lot of fans are super excited about seeing director James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. I’ve loved everything that I’ve seen from the film so far and there’s no doubt that it’s gonna be one hell of a crazy ride!

During a recent interview with Total Film/GamesRadar, Gunn talked about how he came to direct the film and the creative freedom that Warner Bros. gave him. The studio told him that he could kill off anyone and everyone he wanted. He also explains why the total creative freedom he was given frightened him:

"They said I could keep [all the characters] or do away with them all. I could do a completely new squad – which I considered – and they said, 'You can kill anyone.' Warner were pretty much on board [with the story] from the beginning – it was pretty much firmly in place from the inception of me taking on the project. They were very trusting of me throughout the entire process, almost to the degree to which I was frightened, because it really is all me, 100 per cent – there's no one to blame if something goes wrong, except for myself!"

The filmmaker also shared how Warner Bros. approached him about working with them after Disney fired him from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and that they pretty much offered him anything he wanted:

"Warner came a-calling pretty immediately upon the news. I think everything kind of went down [with Disney] on like a Friday, and I think by Monday, Warners were trying to get a hold of me to talk to me about Superman and a bunch of other stuff. But it took me a little while to decide what I was going to do – I really just needed to take care of myself from an emotional and spiritual place.

"Before agreeing to anything, I took the three ideas that excited me the most. Two were actually DC projects, and then the other one was an original idea. For about a month, every other day I worked on one of those projects, trying to see where the ideas would go. The Suicide Squad really did seem the thing that excited me the most. That’s when I went and told DC – because they'd offered me basically anything [I wanted to make] – that the one I wanted to do was The Suicide Squad."

I wonder what that second DC project was that he was considering. Maybe Superman? I have no idea, but it’d be interesting to find out. Also, I hope he gets around to making whatever original film project he was considering.

Here’s the synopsis for the film:

Welcome to hell — a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.

Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and- destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.

The film has previously been described as a 1970s-style war movie. It has also been said that the Suicide Squad team will be heading on a mission to Corto Maltese so that they can recover something from a former German prison and laboratory. Producer Peter Safran previously explained:

"There they have to destroy a Nazi-era prison and laboratory named Jotunheim, where political prisoners were held and experimentations took place."

The Suicide Squad stars Idris Elba as Bloodsport, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Steve Agee as King Shark, and Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher, Michael Rooker as Savant, Flula Borg as Javelin, Nathan Fillion is T.D.K., Mayling Ng as Mongal, Peter Capaldi as The Thinker, Alice Braga as Sol Soria, Sylvester Stallone providing the voice of King Shark, John Cena is Peacemaker, Joaquín Cosío is Mayor General Mateo Suarez, Pete Davidson is Blackguard, Sean Gunn is Weasel, Jennifer Holland is Emilia Harcourt, and Storm Reid is Bloodsport's daughter, Tyla. Taika Waititi will also be in the film.

The Suicide Squad is set for release on August 6, 2021.