When Marvel temporarily had a fit of insanity and let James Gunn go, he jumped over to Warner Bros. who hired him to direct The Suicide Squad. But they were also keen on keeping him around for the long haul and do other films within the DCEU, including Superman. Speaking with EW, Gunn talked about why he turned down the chance to direct the Man of Steel…
“Things like Superman, Justice League, people have so many ideas about who they are that it seems like less of a fun playground,” he said.
Gunn has talked about this sort of thing before. His decision to choose The Suicide Squad is similar to why he took on Guardians of the Galaxy, and it was to use lesser-known characters and build public perception about them.
As for whether he’s had thoughts of bringing The Suicide Squad back for another mission, assuming they survive this one…
“I’ve had ideas, actually,” he admits. “If I did a sequel, it’s not like, ‘Hey, let’s assemble another team and let’s do this!’ It would be very different.”
Then again, in a completely different interview with SFX Magazine (via Total Film), Gunn doesn’t sound like he has any interest in doing another superhero movie…
“They’re mostly boring to me right now!” he laughs. “I loved them at the beginning and there are still people trying to do different things [with them], so it’s not a 100% rule, but a lot of them are boring. So I think it’s about bringing in other elements from different genres.”
“I loved the idea of making a supervillain war caper film,” Gunn continues. “Films like The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare, those are of different elements from the backdrop of war and the caper heist element, to the sneaking around, the high stakes, the adventure.”
The Suicide Squad hits theaters and HBO Max on August 6th. Check out a new TV spot below.
When you’re King Shark, every week is #SharkWeek… #TheSuicideSquad in theaters and streaming exclusively on @HBOMax August 6. pic.twitter.com/qDncs99JI0
— The Suicide Squad (@SuicideSquadWB) July 12, 2021
