Jason Gunn Teases Even Harley Quinn Won’t Be Safe In Suicide Squad
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James Gunn already teased killing off a large portion of The Suicide Squad. It turns out he’s not messing around – even Harley Quinn isn’t safe.
The Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker loves brutal fun. Before he entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he rose to fame through the Troma films, Slither and Super.
So, having him lead the most dangerous people on the planet into a bloody, explosive death trap is a tantalising prospect. While some predicted specific characters would be invincible, Gunn is keen to emphasise that nobody is safe when it comes to The Suicide Squad.
After a Twitter user wrote to Gunn that Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) has ‘franchise armour’ alongside King Shark (presumably voiced by Taika Waititi) and Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), the director explained why this isn’t the case.
He replied, ‘No character was protected by DC. They gave me carte blanche to do what I wanted. That was one of the things we agreed to before I came to work for them. I wasn’t looking for shock value but I wanted the audience to know anything could happen. #StoryReignsSupreme.’
The upcoming film is part-reboot, part-sequel, following 2016’s critically-mired effort from David Ayer. Key cast members have returned, such as Robbie, Davis, Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang and Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flagg, as well as new recruits like Idris Elba’s Bloodsport and John Cena’s Peacemaker, the latter of whom is also receiving his own TV series.
In response to someone saying Gunn couldn’t kill Batman in a way he couldn’t return, he wrote, ‘No one cannot return, obviously. Secondly, Batman wasn’t one of the characters I was putting in the movie.’
In a recent interview with Empire, Gunn said the characters ‘don’t just get in fights and say they’re going to kill each other, they actually do get in fights and kill each other. You really don’t know who’s going to live and who’s going to die. I was given full freedom to kill anyone – and I mean anyone – by DC’.
As for fans’ fury at killing off beloved characters, he tweeted, ‘There are angry fans no matter what choice you make. I still get hate messages for Yondu dying in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 & Boltie in SUPER. Yet their deaths were integral to the stories (and, for the record, I get a lot MORE messages from folks saying how deeply those deaths affected them).’
He added, ‘I get sometimes you can bring back characters in a cool way. But usually, if a character dies, and it’s a meaningful part of the story, the character should stay dead. So unless it’s a flashback, Yondu will stay dead, as far as I’m concerned. Otherwise, it ruins his sacrifice.’
The Suicide Squad is due for release on August 6, 2021.
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