meet the stars behind the squad

With the upcoming sequel, The Suicide Squad, everyone is older and wiser. Warner Bros. has discovered the value of a director’s vision—as evident with the aforementioned Snyder Cut—but moves forward with a new director. Enter James Gunn, the writer and director of both Guardians of the Galaxy movies and the brand new writer-director of the Suicide Squad sequel, replacing Ayer in both roles. Gunn has seen great success with his pair of Marvel movies, the first of which breathed new life into the superhero genre and gave it new direction. However, The Suicide Squad seems to be taking influence from perhaps another Marvel hero as well.

The new movie will be R-rated— something neither its predecessor, nor Guardians of the Galaxy is— seemingly taking tonal notes from 2016’s Deadpool and its 2018 sequel. Unhinged, off-kilter, and maybe a little bit raunchy, The Suicide Squad will be DC’s craziest yet.

Following a mostly-new batch of supervillains, the criminal strike team, Task Force X, will set out anew to the fictional South American island of Corto Maltese, where a former Nazi prison and laboratory is now operated by the tyrannical dictator Silvio Luna. Our “heroes’” job is to destroy the facility and assassinate its leader.

With a cast that brings back Margot Robbie in the standout role of Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as the rascal kleptomaniac Captain Boomerang, Joel Kinnaman as the troop’s leader Rick Flag, and Viola Davis as the hardnosed and controversial spearheader of Task Force X, the new movie also assembles an entirely new ensemble of favorites, including Idris Elba, John Cena, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Rooker, Peter Capaldi, Nathan Fillion, Pete Davidson, David Dastmalchian, Sean Gunn, and Alice Braga, among others—many of whom are unsung heroes in their own respective projects, perfectly fitting for this one.

Gunn has said in the past that the Suicide Squad comics have been the one DC property that he’s been eyeing for years now. And that, while most of the world seems to harp on the negative from the first film, he sees the positive that it was able to contribute, aiming to reinstate the good from the 2016 predecessor while also bringing his own unique touch to the project.

Watching the trailer for The Suicide Squad, it’s already obvious that this film will be something fresh and fun, with a sardonic and self-aware attitude, and most of all operating under its own vision—which is all we really want.

The Suicide Squad/DC/Warner Bros. june 2021| I 45