James Gunn's The Suicide Squad is "hilarious and depraved," according to star Joel Kinnaman. The original Suicide Squad in 2016 found success at the box office, but critics and audiences panned the film for its muddled tone, as well as the fact it held back the characters by having a PG-13 rating. On August 6, 2021, Gunn’s soft reboot/sequel will hit theaters and HBO Max, and as the red band trailer graphically showed with King Shark ripping apart a body, Suicide Squad 2 will be rated R. The film’s trailers have also shown that Gunn’s trademark humor will play a big part in the movie, as it will help bring in some new characters alongside a few returning faces.
Kinnaman will reprise his role as Rick Flag, the leader of Task Force X, and his character will once again take orders from Amanda Waller and work alongside Harley Quinn. However, the film introduces a host of new and strange characters like Peacemaker, Bloodsport, King Shark, and Polka-Dot Man. Although not much is known about the story, Suicide Squad 2 will see Task Force X sent on a dangerous mission to the fictional island of Corto Maltese to destroy a Nazi-era prison and laboratory, and as Gunn has mentioned on countless occasions, almost all the characters will die. Some of the stars that have seen the film, such as Mayling Ng, have heaped Suicide Squad 2 with praise, urging audiences to watch it on the biggest screen possible. Now, Kinnaman has provided more insight into Gunn’s upcoming film.
In an interview with Variety’s Just for Variety podcast, Kinnaman spoke about his role in HBO’s In Treatment, but with Suicide Squad 2 only a couple of months away, naturally, the conversation made its way towards the DC ensemble film. The actor revealed he has seen the movie and called it “insane” while also praising Gunn’s ability to juggle so many different elements and have the film be “so well paced.” Kinnaman also acknowledged how the first Suicide Squad movie lost its way due to "conflicting visions" before teasing the sequel:
I thought the first 40 minutes of the film was f**king great, and then there were conflicting visions and it just didn’t end up being what we all hoped it was. It didn’t feel like the movie that we hoped we were going to make, and this is something very different. …It’s just a different universe. It’s a James Gunn universe. It’s a very hilarious and depraved place.
Anyone familiar with Gunn’s past work will know that “hilarious and depraved” are often fitting descriptions for his worlds. The director has a tendency to play with flawed characters and systems while adding in plenty of jokes. Judging from the violent and peculiar actions seen in the trailer, the fact the movie's supposed to feature countless deaths, and that it revolves around corrupt and crazy villains, “depraved” is certainly a logical description. As far as the humor in the film goes, Kinnaman has previously spoken about how the Suicide Squad 2 script had him laughing out loud. So fortunately, it seems like the humor has translated well to the screen, according to the actor.
Suicide Squad 2 will likely be one of the biggest films of 2021, and ever since Gunn was appointed the movie’s director, it has been a highly-anticipated project. Kinnaman’s comments will only add to the excitement, and explaining how Suicide Squad 2 is “very different” from the first one will also make many people happy. Considering Gunn and Warner Bros. have the Peacemaker HBO Max series coming in 2022, they will be hoping The Suicide Squad is not only financially successful but also leaves audiences wanting more, something the first one did not do. If the sequel is as “hilarious and depraved" as Kinnaman says it is, viewers will likely be satisfied with the end product.
Source: Variety
