James Gunn and the cast of The Suicide Squad stopped by a screening of Joker, and they all put on a happy face for a group photo afterwards. A soft reboot of the franchise, Gunn's film is bringing back some of the cast of David Ayer's Suicide Squad while also adding a host of new characters (many of whom remain a mystery for now).
The Suicide Squad has now begun filming at Pinewood Atlanta Studios, just under two years ahead of its summer 2021 release date. The production came about in a unique way, as Gunn was hired by Warner Bros. during a period of exile from Marvel Studios, after he was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 over some old offensive tweets. The director has since been re-hired by Marvel, but before he returns to direct the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie he's first directing a movie about another set of morally dubious misfits.
After attending a screening of Joker, Todd Phillips' upcoming film that stars Joaquin Phoenix as Batman's most infamous enemy, some members of The Suicide Squad's cast stopped for a group photo - joined by Guardians of the Galaxy star Pom Klementieff, who isn't in the Suicide Squad movie (as far as we know). The photo doesn't reveal much beyond the fact that Jai Courtney has grown back his Captain Boomerang beard and Sean Gunn has shaved his head, but it is exciting to see the cast assembled. From left to right, the back row consists of Daniela Melchior, producer Peter Safran, James Gunn, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Mayling Ng, Steve Agee, Pom Klementieff, Pete Davidson and Sean Gunn. Pictured in the front row are Nathan Fillion, Flula Borg, and Joel Kinnaman.
Some major cast members are missing from the photo, including Viola Davis, John Cena, Idris Elba, David Dastmalchian, Storm Reid, Peter Capaldi, Taika Waititi and Michael Rooker. Given how busy actors' schedules are, it would have been pretty difficult to get everyone together for the screening, but there's a good mix of new and returning cast members in this photo.
One of the earliest pieces of promotional material released for Ayer's Suicide Squad was a cast photo of the Squad in costume, and with filming now underway it hopefully won't be long before we see at least some of the new members of Task Force X all dressed up and ready to risk their lives for reduced prison time. Their corner of the DC Extended Universe is technically occupied by a different version of the Joker, played by Jared Leto, but given that Warner Bros. is embracing a more flexible approach to its DC properties, perhaps they could run into Phoenix's version for real one day.
