5 Fast Facts About the Suicide Squad Sequel
The entertainment world has been buzzing about the impending sequel of Suicide Squad. Even though the next installment of the bad-guy epic isn't on the official calendar of DC Comics releases, Warner Bros. has begun courting a director and breaking ground on the project. With so much up in the air, it's easy to wonder what we do know about the sequel. We did some digging and scraped together as much confirmed and speculative information as we possibly could.
1. James Gunn Is Writing and Potentially Directing
Although David Ayer wrote and directed the first film, it seems Warner Bros. may be veering in a different direction for round two. The studio was reportedly courting Mel Gibson for the job at first, but in October The Wrap reported that Guardians of the Galaxy's James Gunn is in talks to write and also direct. Back in July a right-wing troll began circulating a number of Gunn's old tweets, some of which included distasteful jokes about pedophilia. Despite apologizing, Disney fired him from his Marvel gig, so it would be interesting to see how he handles a film in the DCEU, instead.
2. David Ayer Likely Won't Return in Any Capacity
In March 2016, The Wrap inadvertently confirmed the sequel during a seemingly innocuous news report. As almost an afterthought, the site mentioned that Suicide Squad 2 was already on Ayer's 2017 schedule. Obviously things have changed since then, and Ayer is busy with the Training Day TV adaptation and the sequel to his fantasy-crime film for Netflix, Bright.
ADVERTISEMENT 3. Most of the Original Cast Will Probably Return
The aforementioned report from The Wrap also mentioned that Suicide Squad's sequel was on Will Smith's schedule as well. Considering he was one of the biggest stars attached to the first film, it would make sense that Warner Bros. would want him to return as Deadshot. Jared Leto, Karen Fukuhara, Joel Kinnaman, and Margot Robbie are likely also going to come back, especially since the latter is locked in to play Harley Quinn in the Birds of Prey film. Rumored to be joining the cast is Dwayne Johnson, who would take on the role of Black Adam.
4. It Could Be Rated R
In Spring 2016, David Ayer talked about the sequel with MTV News. While the studio definitely aimed for a PG-13 rating on the first one, the second one is up in the air. Ayer remarked that an R stamp "would be worth lobbying for." In light of the runaway success of 2016's Deadpool, which made billions of dollars and became one of the most successful R-rated films of all time, an R-Rated Suicide Squad sequel sounds pretty appealing. Ayer is no longer involved with the project, but let's hope the studio still decides to take it in that direction.
5. Jay Hernandez May Not Be Gone Forever
Even though El Diablo goes out with a pretty epic blaze of glory in the first film, actor Jay Hernandez told ComicBook that the character could still return somehow. "Of course there is [a chance he could return]! I'm not saying anything, just that it's a possibility." Considering Superman kind of sort of dies in Batman v. Superman but also seems to have somehow come back from the dead to appear in the Justice League films, nothing is out of the question.