In a surprising bombshell, it has been reported that James Gunn will be returning to direct Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after being fired from the project last summer. This is great news for the film and Marvel fans, but is it bad news for Suicide Squad 2, the DC film Gunn signed on to write and direct after his firing? Thankfully, no, James Gunn’s return to Guardians 3 will not impact The Suicide Squad.
In the report from Deadline about James Gunn’s reinstatement as director for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it is revealed that James Gunn will still write and direct The Suicide Squad as planned. This complicates the time table for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but Marvel Studios has agreed to wait to begin production on the threequel until after James Gunn finishes The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros. and DC.
This was all made possible because Marvel never even met with or considered other filmmakers to replace James Gunn. The studio seemingly knew that there was nobody else who could do the job and infuse the same personality James Gunn did that would appease the fans and the cast. So Marvel was willing to wait for him to do Suicide Squad 2 first.
It would have been easy for DC fans and those excited to see what James Gunn could do with The Suicide Squad to get worried upon reading headlines about his Marvel return, but those fears are unfounded. Essentially, James Gunn’s return to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 means nothing for The Suicide Squad other than that we’ll be getting two James Gunn comic book movies, in two different universes, back to back.
This is one of those rare situations that is pretty much a win-win all around. James Gunn gets a second chance and those who felt he was unfairly fired see that situation righted, DC still gets a great filmmaker to come in and put his stamp on the universe with some exciting characters in The Suicide Squad, and we get James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Sure, we aren’t getting Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as soon as we once expected, but up until today it seemed like the best we could hope for was that James Gunn’s script would be used. Now James Gunn will return to both write and direct. Dave Bautista and the rest of the cast have to be ecstatic.
Speaking of casts, we still don’t know exactly who will and won’t be returning for Suicide Squad 2, but we do know that Idris Elba will be replacing Will Smith as Deadshot and Margot Robbie is expected to reprise her role as Harley Quinn.
The Suicide Squad is set to hit theaters on August 6, 2021. A new release date for James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has not been set. For release dates we do know, check out our premiere guide to see what’s headed to theaters this year.
