According to actor Joel Kinnaman, James Gunn's The Suicide Squad will adopt a more comedic tone than 2016's similarly-titled, David Ayer-directed effort. Almost universally panned by critics but wildly successful at the box office, David Ayer's Suicide Squad showcased memorable performances by Will Smith and Margot Robbie, but had little else to offer. Sitting at a mere 27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes (with a 59 percent audience score), the film was a spirited (if somewhat clumsy) attempt to bring these characters to the big screen in dazzling fashion. If anything good came from the film, it was the fact that its poor reception motivated the Justice League cast to do better.
It's worth noting that Kinnaman also starred as Rick Flag in Ayer's film, giving him a strong point of reference against which he can compare/contrast his experience filming Gunn's version. As for Gunn himself, he's perhaps best known for directing the Guardians of the Galaxy films. In July 2018, Gunn came under fire for tweets he had posted years before, prompting Marvel to fire him. He made quite a comeback, landing gigs directing both The Suicide Squad and, to Marvel fans' delight, the forthcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
During an interview with Variety, Kinnaman revealed that Gunn's approach to the film will be funnier than Ayer's take. That, coupled with the fact that certain characters won't be returning, will help this film separate itself from its ill-fated predecessor. Here's a bit of what he said:
He's an incredible guy. He's written a fantastic script. It's so funny...I feel like I'm shooting my first comedy. There are a lot of really funny people there. It's like a learning experience. I'm around a lot of incredible, funny people.
If Kinnaman's comments are to be believed, Gunn's sequel will take a vastly different approach than Ayer's Suicide Squad. It'll be interesting to see how much funnier this film is, especially considering the fact Ayer's original was comedic enough on its own (courtesy of Smith's Deadshot and Robbie's Harley Quinn). The film failed in many respects but humor and heart arguably weren't among them.
Kinnaman was a standout in the first film, but he was so serious that seeing him hurl quips and make jokes will be a bit jarring. Fun, but jarring. This is obviously pure speculation at this point, but given Gunn's reputation as a filmmaker, The Suicide Squad will most likely prove a massive hit with critics and audiences, as he's demonstrated a knack for telling stories about mismatched comic book teams.
Source: Variety
