James Gunn has been rehired for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but what does that mean for DC's The Suicide Squad? Fans of all creeds don't have to worry too much as both movies will happen!
Gunn was infamously fired on July 20, 2018 after old tweets featuring off-color jokes about topics such as pedophilia were resurfaced by far-right groups responding to more recent comments about President Trump. Disney chairman Alan Horn was quick to remove Gunn and despite a major campaign to rehire the director, the position was unrelenting. As a result, Gunn appeared to switch sides, signing on to write and direct The Suicide Squad for DC, with a 2021 release date recently set. However, Disney has now rehired James Gunn, which may put the Task Force X sequel in question.
Theory: James Gunn Is Recasting The Suicide Squad (To Kill Them All)
To be immediately clear, The Suicide Squad will still happen and make its August 6, 2021 release. Per the report on Gunn's rehiring, Marvel won't begin production on Guardians of the Galaxy 3 until after Suicide Squad 2 is completed. The rehiring of James Gunn appears to have been made with his current deal with Warner Bros. and DC considered. This will, of course, mean that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will probably not release until 2023 at the earliest.
Gunn now having Guardians of the Galaxy 3 officially in his future again will likely not impact The Suicide Squad's development in any massive way either. It's reported that his return to Marvel has been set for a long time, likely predating his official appointment as Suicide Squad 2 director. Any development on the DC movie will have been done with Guardians in mind and there won't be any change in direction.
The only thing this new really alters is the audiences' perception of Suicide Squad 2. With the indispensable villains doing good premise, it was easy to view Task Force X as a DC version of Guardians (David Ayer's 2016 movie certainly attempted to go that route) and so many felt that Gunn's take would be a rebuttal to his firing by the Mouse House. As things seem to be mending with Disney, Gunn's unlikely to take direct aim at Alan Horn or others.
Ultimately, this is very good news for all parties. DC gets to soft-reboot Suicide Squad in a manner fitting their original idea with a proven blockbuster auteur, while Marvel finishes their Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy in the way it was always intended. And James Gunn gets to be a part of both.
