Friday brought the news that millions of Marvel fans had been waiting and hoping for – James Gunn will return to the MCU after all to direct Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3. But first, he remains busy on DC’s The Suicide Squad, a second attempt at the anti-hero team-up following David Ayer’s 2016 Suicide Squad. While rumours have flown over how connected Gunn’s film will be to the last iteration, which starred Will Smith as Deadshot and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, producer Peter Safran has labelled it a ‘total reboot’.
Speaking to JoBlo, Safran said: “We don’t call it Suicide Squad 2 ‘cause it’s a total reboot, so it’s The Suicide Squad and I think people should be extremely excited about it. 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.” Safran also spoke about Gunn’s reappointment at Marvel, but reiterated that The Suicide Squad is coming before Guardians 3. “It was all handled incredibly elegantly and everybody knows on both sides that Suicide Squad is the priority today and he’ll finish that movie and then everybody knows that his next film will be Guardians,” Safran said. “It’s the best of all possible both worlds, I think, for fans and for James Gunn himself.”
Gunn released a statement on Friday after the news broke that he would return for Guardians 3, months after being ousted from the MCU over offensive joke tweets. “I am tremendously grateful to every person out there who has supported me over the past few months,” he wrote. “I am always learning and will continue to work at being the best human being I can be. I deeply appreciate Disney’s decision and I am excited to continue making films that investigate the ties of love that bind us all. I have been, and continue to be incredibly humbled by your love and support. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Love to you all.”
The Suicide Squad is penned in for an August 2021 release date, so expect Guardians 3 to arrive a year or two further down the line from there.
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