James Gunn Making A Second Suicide Squad Spinoff, Our Scoop Confirmed
Despite the hybrid release of theater and streaming services, The Suicide Squad did better than anyone expected. And now it seems that James Gunn is being rewarded.
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During his long career in the entertainment industry, director James Gunn has proven himself in more ways than one. Starting beginning in Troma Entertainment and segueing into horror, Gunn has a specific brand that is not for the faint of heart (via SyFy). But in recent years, he has found his groove in the comic book genre. Gunn found success in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, but the real test was his iteration of The Suicide Squad. Despite the hybrid release of theater and streaming services, The Suicide Squad did better than anyone expected. And now it seems that the director is being rewarded. A Giant Freakin Robot exclusive has finally just been confirmed by Deadline. After the success of the DC spinoff show Peacemaker, Gunn has more The Suicide Squad spinoff projects in the works.
James Gunn has been hazy on the details, likely due to early development and being so high profile. “We’re working on something else now, another TV show that’s connected to that universe. I can’t quite say,” the director stated about the future project. There is no word if this will involve Bloodsport (Idris Elba) or Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), but fans can dream. Harley Quinn in particular has been an extremely popular character, especially in light of the HBO Max animated series depicting her relationship with Poison Ivy.
The Suicide Squad’s success is good news after the unfortunate reception of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad in 2016. Ayer has since stated that the first film was not his vision (via Variety). Despite its critical failure, Margot Robbie went on to reprise the character in Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. This laid the groundwork for a soft reboot of The Suicide Squad. James Gunn took the reigns and in typical fashion of the director’s eccentric films, veered into surrealism. Harley Quinn, Rick Flag, and Captain Boomerang were the only characters to return from the original film. Instead, the rest of the story had an influx of outrageous characters from sentient weasels to giant shark monsters. This was exactly what the franchise needed, capitalizing on Margot Robbie and John Cena’s humor.
Cena was also rewarded when his character Peacemaker was given his own spinoff show. An anti-hero in the vein of Captain America, Peacemaker takes place after the events of The Suicide Squad as the patriot fights his brand of crime while struggling with the aftermath of killing Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman). Peacemaker just celebrated a huge milestone, as it’s currently the most-watched show, making more DC properties from James Gunn a no-brainer.
James Gunn has stated that he has high hopes for the future of Peacemaker. This shouldn’t be too hard as Gunn has yet to miss the mark when it comes to the new DC films and series. The director mentioned that the show is doing “extraordinarily well” and he looks forward to making new stories with the character. The upcoming show is so much in the early development stages that Gunn could not speak to anything further on the matter.
For those concerned that this will impact James Gunn’s other projects, there is nothing to fear. While it has been some time since viewers saw a Guardians ensemble movie, it is still on its way. Gunn spoke to Deadline from the set of the third film and Digital Spy reports it is slated to premiere in May of 2023.
