It’s been four years since James Gunn’s last big, splashy, colourful comic book blockbuster – and the world’s been a duller place during the wait. No more. Gunn is back, touching down to Earth after the cosmic chaos of the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies to bring his magic touch to DC with The Suicide Squad – a crazy, raucous, violent villain team-up ready to wipe clean the memory of the 2016 film with a cast of crazier characters (Polka-Dot Man and rodent-human hybrid Weasel, anyone?), a giant starfish baddie, and a tone inspired by ‘70s men-on-a-mission war movies. Gunn, it’s good to have you back.
This month’s issue of Empire brings James Gunn’s new Squad to five collectible magazine covers – and inside we speak to the filmmaker, his cast (including a returning Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Steve Agee, Peter Capaldi, Daniela Melchior, and David Dastmalchian), producer Peter Safran and more about the making of his maddest movie yet. And that’s just the beginning – we have a whole James Gunn special, with the man himself dispensing his seven key lessons of filmmaking. Plus, we talk to his regular collaborators like brother Sean Gunn, Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker and Peter Safran, get the world’s first look at The Suicide Squad’s //Peacemaker// spin-off series, and have an exclusive awesome mix of Gunn-picked tunes that almost made it onto The Suicide Squad’s retro soundtrack. And if that wasn’t enough, this month’s issue also comes with an exclusive print from comic book legend Jim Lee – an original piece of The Suicide Squad art.
Check out the five newsstands covers below. First up, we have Idris Elba's Bloodsport, Daniela Melchior's Ratcatcher 2, and Flula Borg's Javelin.
Cover 2 features Sylvester Stallone's King Shark, David Dastmalchian's Polka-Dot Man, Jai Courteney's Captain Boomerang, and Michael Rooker's Savant.
Cover 3 showcases Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, John Cena's Peacemaker, Sean Gunn's Weasel, and Pete Davidson's Blackguard.
The fourth cover is graced by Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag, Nathan Fillion's T.D.K., Alice Braga's Sol Soria, and Mayling Ng's Mongal.
And finally, our fifth cover sees Viola Davis' Amanda Waller, Peter Capaldi's Thinker and Starro — a giant, psychic starfish.
Plus, this month’s exclusive subscriber is a stunning composite illustrated for us by the legendary Jim Lee.
All that and plenty more in another jam-packed issue of Empire – find it on newsstands from Thursday 8 July, or pre-order your pick of the five covers online now.