Looks Like The Suicide Squad Finally Has An Official Rating

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Over the past decade and change, comic book movies have become the most powerful genre in the film world. As such, certain collaborators have been able to work on multiple cinematic universes, like filmmaker James Gunn. While he's best known for his work on the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, he'll be dipping his toes into DC for The Suicide Squad. And now he's seemingly confirmed that highly anticipated blockbuster's official rating.

Ratings on superhero movies have been varied since the release of Deadpool proved that an R-rated flick could still break records at the box office. Since then a number of movies have gone for that same MPAA rating, allowing content to be more adult focused, and language/violence to be stepped up. James Gunn's two Guardians of the Galaxy movies have both been PG-13, and he was recently asked about The Suicide Squad's rating, to which he responded:

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Well, there you have it. It seems The Suicide Squad will definitely be rated R when it hits theaters this coming August. That's the intention James Gunn had for his DB debut, so smart money says it would be hard to edit around the adult content and over the top death scenes that are coming when Task Force X returns to the big screen.

James Gunn's short but sweet response regarding The Suicide Squad's rating comes from his personal Twitter account. Despite the social media outlet serving as the catalyst behind his temporary firing from Marvel, he's still known for using Twitter to share tidbits of information about his highly anticipated Marvel and DC blockbusters. And this time he confirmed that his DC debut will be an R-rated affair.

After The Suicide Squad hits theaters, James Gunn is working with John Cena on a Peacemaker show for HBO Max. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.

News of The Suicide Squad's impending rating is sure to even further amp up excitement about the villain-centric movie. James Gunn's blockbuster will serve as a sequel/soft reboot to David Ayer's 2017 movie, and will feature a handful of returning faces. But Gunn has also assembled an impressive of news actors to bring the story together, many of whom likely won't make it out of the blockbuster's runtime alive.

The name of the Suicide Squad in both the comics and DCEU references that they're all captive villains, and Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) is willing to sacrifice their lives for the "greater good." While only Slipknot died in 2017's original movie, James Gunn and the cast of The Suicide Squad have teased the violence and fatalities coming with the next movie.

James Gunn is a filmmaker who is known for putting his unique perspective into his movies. His taste in music, sense of humor, and even dance moves appeared in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and now he'll have the freedom of an R-rating to go HAM on The Suicide Squad. 2021 has some seriously exciting movies coming to theaters.

Margot Robbie's character Harley Quinn is one of the familiar faces popping up in The Suicide Squad, and giving the character the ability to be R-rated is a great choice. We saw this to great success with the Birds of Prey movie, which saw Harley as a foul-mouthed and ultra violent presence in Gotham City. We'll just have to wait and see how her second mission with Task Force X goes.

The Suicide Squad is currently set to arrive in theaters on August 6th, 2021. In the meantime, check out our 2021 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.