After his controversial firing from the film franchise he created, Guardians of the Galaxy, what would James Gunn do next has been a hotly debated topic in Hollywood. Now, we have an answer.
Staying in the comic book world, Warner Bros. has hired Gunn to helm the next chapter of Suicide Squad… so far, just called Suicide Squad 2.
Gunn was fired by Disney when attention was brought to some inappropriate Tweets of the writer-director’s past. The director has long apologized repeatedly for those social media statements and those that know him now tout how much he has evolved as a person to become one of the kindest, most giving souls in Hollywood. That wasn’t enough for The Mouse House and they fired him, despite objections from the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy—most notably Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista.
The filmmaker took the firing in stride and even went so far as to say he understood where Disney and Marvel were coming from… although this fan cannot imagine the tone, feel and power that Gunn injected into Guardians being replicated by anyone. But, that’s neither here nor there because Gunn has a new gig.
He’s switching from the marvelous world of Marvel to the decidedly spotted landscape of DC Comics. They have a Batman franchise in turmoil, now that Ben Affleck is out as the Dark Knight. Henry Cavill is also no longer part of that world, so DC needs itself a Superman. The good news for DC is that Wonder Woman was a massive blockbuster and December’s Aquaman recently went over a billion dollars at the box office—making it the comic book studio’s highest grossing film.
Therefore, news that Gunn is now part of the DC Comics Cinematic Universe could not be more welcomed for the parent company—Warner’s.
Suicide Squad starred Will Smith, Margot Robbie (whose Harley Quinn is getting her own film, Birds of Prey), Joel Kinnaman, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Cara Delevingne and Joel Kinnaman. It’s early in the process but look for that cast to expand. Our anticipation for the follow-up to the mediocre-received Suicide Squad currently has a release date of sometime in August of 2021.