The Suicide Squad (film)

The Suicide Squad is an upcoming American superhero film based on the DC Comics antihero team the Suicide Squad. Produced by DC Films, Atlas Entertainment, and The Safran Company, and set for distribution by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is intended to be a soft reboot and standalone sequel to Suicide Squad (2016), and the tenth film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film, written and directed by James Gunn, stars an ensemble cast led by Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Peter Capaldi, and Viola Davis.

A sequel to Suicide Squad was announced in March 2016 before that film's release, with David Ayer returning as director before dropping out in December 2016 for a Gotham City Sirens film. After considering several directors, Warner Bros. hired Gavin O'Connor in September 2017, but he left a year later over creative differences, and by October 2018, Gunn was hired to write the film after he had been temporarily dismissed by The Walt Disney Company from directing the Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and he signed to direct in January 2019. Gunn looked to the 1980s Suicide Squad comics for inspiration to focus on new characters rather than continue the prior film's narrative. Filming began in Atlanta, Georgia in September 2019, and concluded in Panama in February 2020.

The Suicide Squad is scheduled to be released in the United States on August 6, 2021. A spin-off television series centered on Peacemaker (Cena) is in development for HBO Max.

Cast
A convicted mercenary armed with the most amount of weapons on the Suicide Squad, who was arrested and is currently serving time in prison for shooting Superman with a bullet made of Kryptonite at the start of the film. Elba was originally cast as Floyd Lawton / Deadshot, replacing Will Smith from the first film, but Warner Bros. and director James Gunn eventually decided to have him play a new character instead, allowing Smith the opportunity to return in a future film.
 * Margot Robbie as Dr. Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn: A crazed criminal and former psychiatrist who worked as part of the Birds of Prey and was also a member of the original Suicide Squad.
 * Idris Elba as Robert DuBois / Bloodsport:
 * John Cena as Christopher Smith / Peacemaker: A ruthless killer who believes in achieving peace at any cost. The character has been described by Cena as a "douchey Captain America".
 * Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag: The heroic military leader of the original Suicide Squad, now the leader of the new squad.
 * Peter Capaldi as Clifford DeVoe / The Thinker: A highly-intelligent supervillain with mind control and telekinetic abilities, who is a member of the new Suicide Squad.
 * Viola Davis as Amanda Waller: A government official who organized the Task Force X program and founded the first Suicide Squad. She now heads the second Suicide Squad.


 * Jai Courtney as George "Digger" Harkness / Captain Boomerang: An unhinged Australian thief who wields weaponized boomerangs and was also part of the original Suicide Squad.
 * Alice Braga as Sol Soria: A South American revolutionary and an ally of the new Suicide Squad.
 * Pete Davidson as Richard Hertz / Blackguard: A mercenary and a member of the new Suicide Squad.
 * David Dastmalchian as Abner Krill / Polka-Dot Man: A criminal who wears a suit covered with polka dots that can be transformed into a variety of gadgets, and a member of the new Suicide Squad.
 * Michael Rooker as Brian Durlin / Savant: A computer hacker and a member of the new Suicide Squad.
 * Taika Waititi
 * Nathan Fillion as Floyd Belkin / T.D.K.: A supervillain who can detach his arms for use as weapons, and a member of the new Suicide Squad.
 * Storm Reid as Tyla: DuBois' teenage daughter.
 * Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2: A member of the new Suicide Squad.
 * Steve Agee as Nanaue / King Shark: A metahuman with shark-like characteristics and abilities. Agee also plays John Economos, the warden of the Belle Reve penetentiary and an aide to Waller.
 * Sean Gunn as John Monroe / Weasel: A terrifying half-rat, half-man.
 * Joaquín Cosío as Mateo Suárez: Luna's second-in-command.
 * Juan Diego Botto as Silvio Luna: A ruthless South American dictator.
 * Julio Ruiz
 * Flula Borg as Javelin: A German athlete-turned-supervillain who wields javelins as weapons, and a member of the new Suicide Squad.
 * Tinashe Kajese as Flo Crawley
 * Mayling Ng as Mongal: An alien and an ally of the new Suicide Squad.
 * Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt: An NSA agent who is an aide to Amanda Waller and A.R.G.U.S. to monitor the Suicide Squad.

Additionally, modern Suicide Squad creator John Ostrander plays Dr. Fitzgibbon, while Sylvester Stallone appears in an undisclosed role.

Development


Ahead of the release of Suicide Squad (2016), Warner Bros. Pictures announced in March 2016 that a sequel was in development. David Ayer and Will Smith were attached to reprise their respective roles as director and Deadshot, and filming was on track to begin in 2017 after the pair completed work on Bright (2017). The following month, Ayer expressed his interest in making the sequel R-rated, but by December had exited in favor of directing a Gotham City Sirens film. Warner Bros. entered negotiations with Mel Gibson to direct shortly afterwards, but he passed after production delays. Daniel Espinosa, Jonathan Levine, and Ruben Fleischer were also under consideration. In March 2017, The Legend of Tarzan (2016) writer Adam Cozad was hired to write the screenplay. The Suicide Squad sequel was said to be a priority for Warner Bros., with a focus on coming up with a story.

Warner Bros.' top choice to direct was Jaume Collet-Serra, but he passed in favor of Disney's Jungle Cruise (2021) because he did not like the idea of continuing a story another director started. David S. Goyer was also considered to direct the film. In July, Zak Penn pitched a new story treatment and began a new draft as a favor for the studio. At San Diego Comic-Con that month, the film was officially titled Suicide Squad 2. By August, Jared Leto was set to reprise his role as the Joker from the first film, and Variety reported production would not begin until late 2018 because of Smith's production schedule on the 2019 films Aladdin and Gemini Man. In September, Gavin O'Connor was hired to direct and co-write the film with Warrior (2011) screenwriter Anthony Tambakis. Michael De Luca joined the project as producer alongside Charles Roven. O'Connor brought in David Bar Katz and Todd Stashwick to co-write the screenplay in June 2018, which was finished in September. According to Variety Justin Kroll, O'Connor's script was too similar to the one for Birds of Prey (2020), which Warner Bros. gave a green-light to first. Frustrated, O'Connor withdrew from the project in favor of The Way Back (2020).

Months earlier, in July 2018, The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios dismissed James Gunn from directing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after old controversial tweets surrounding topics such as rape and pedophilia began circulating. As a result, Warner Bros. immediately became interested in recruiting him to direct a DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film, and offered him a number of properties, including Superman. Gunn chose the Suicide Squad sequel, and by the time he completed his exit settlement with Disney and Marvel in October, Warner Bros. hired him to write the screenplay and potentially direct. Gunn discussed his commitments to The Suicide Squad with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who encouraged him to "make a great movie". Ayer supported the decision, saying that Gunn's hiring was a "brave and smart move" by Warner Bros. and calling him "the right man for the job", while fellow Guardians of the Galaxy alumnus Dave Bautista expressed interest in appearing in the film. The day after Gunn signed on, Disney decided to reinstate him as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Writing
The initial script from O'Connor, Katz, and Stashwick featured the Suicide Squad attempting to track down a weapon of mass destruction, Black Adam, who would have served as the film's antagonist before the character was removed from the script.

Regarding James Gunn's direction, The Suicide Squad was described as a new take on the property rather than a direct sequel to the 2016 film, with producer Peter Safran saying "it's a total reboot ... It's everything you would hope from a James Gunn script and I think that says a lot and that promises a lot and I know that we will deliver a lot." Unlike Ayer, who was primarily inspired by the New 52 Suicide Squad comics, Gunn drew inspiration from the 1980s comics by John Ostrander and Kim Yale. As such, Gunn decided to focus more on characters who were not introduced in Suicide Squad, such as a female version of the Ratcatcher, Polka-Dot Man, King Shark, and Peacemaker. During pre-production, he also considered adding Sportsmaster, Kite Man and the Section 8 character Dogwelder to the film's Suicide Squad team, but ultimately decided against using them. Gunn also chose not to bring back Leto's Joker because the character wasn't included in the Suicide Squad comics and he felt Amanda Waller would have no use for him.

Actor Joel Kinnaman described the film as a comedy. A behind-the-scenes featurette was released on August 22, during the virtual DC FanDome event. The film was described as a being like a 1970s war film. Gunn has cited The Dirty Dozen (1967) and City of God (2002) as influences and inspirations for the film.

Pre-production
By January 2019, Gunn had signed to direct and Warner Bros. retitled the film The Suicide Squad, with production set to start in September for a scheduled August 6, 2021 release date. Charles Roven and Peter Safran were also attached to produce. The next month, Smith was confirmed to not be reprising his role as Deadshot from the first film due to scheduling conflicts. Gunn met with Idris Elba to discuss replacing him, which "went so swimmingly that talks began with the studio in earnest." Elba, who was the only choice of Gunn and Warner Bros., signed on to portray Deadshot in March. Later that month, Gunn was publicly announced to have been reinstated for Vol. 3, with production on that film set to commence after Gunn completed The Suicide Squad first and its spin-off television series for Peacemaker. By that April, Gunn and Warner Bros. had decided to have Elba portray a different character, which would enable Smith to return in a future film. At that time, Viola Davis and Margot Robbie were confirmed to return as Amanda Waller and Harley Quinn, while Jai Courtney announced he would be reprise his role as Captain Boomerang. Joel Kinnaman's return as Rick Flag from the first film was initially unclear, but he joined that July. Leto's involvement also became unclear, and he was not expected to appear by that September as Gunn felt the character wasn't necessary for the team.

At this point, production of The Suicide Squad was set to begin after Robbie finished her work on Birds of Prey. Gunn was said to be considering casting Bautista as Peacemaker, though this could not happen due to scheduling conflicts. In April, David Dastmalchian and Daniela Melchior were respectively cast as Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher, and John Cena entered talks for an unspecified role. In July, Storm Reid joined the cast, while Cena's involvement was confirmed. In August, Flula Borg and Nathan Fillion were cast in an undisclosed roles, and Steve Agee was hired to voice King Shark, with Taika Waititi entering negotiations to join in an unspecified role. In September, Peter Capaldi joined the cast, and Pete Davidson entered negotiations for a cameo. The remainder of the cast was confirmed later in the month.

Filming
Principal photography began on September 20, 2019, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Filming in Atlanta was expected to last three months before transitioning to Panama for a month. Feige and Louis D'Esposito, the presidents of Marvel Studios, visited the set during filming after previously working with Gunn on the Guardians of the Galaxy films. Filming wrapped on February 28, 2020.

Post-production
In April 2020, Gunn confirmed that he was editing the film at his home and that the COVID-19 pandemic had not affected the film's post-production and release date at that time.

Music
John Murphy will compose the soundtrack for The Suicide Squad, marking Gunn's first film without a score composed by Tyler Bates.

Release
The Suicide Squad is scheduled to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on August 6, 2021.

Spin-off series
While working on completing The Suicide Squad during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gunn began writing a spin-off television series centered on Peacemaker. The series was announced in September 2020 for HBO Max, with Gunn having written its eight episodes and will direct several of them, and serves as an executive producer alongside Safran. The series will star Cena, Agee, and Holland, who reprise their respective roles as Peacemaker, Economos, and Harcourt from the film,  alongside Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, and Chris Conrad as Adrian Chase / The Vigilante. Filming is expected to occur in Vancouver, Canada from January to June 2021.