The Suicide Squad director James Gunn says that music will be an "incredibly important part" of the movie, but will be "a lot different" from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Gunn will write and direct the soft reboot of the movie series that began with David Ayer's Suicide Squad in 2016, and filming is expected to begin this fall.
While previous Marvel Studios movies had featured some memorable tracks, like AC/DC's "Back in Black" in Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy was the first to go all-out with a jukebox soundtrack. The Guardians of the Galaxy soundtracks are integral to the movies, and in the lead-up to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 fans had fun speculating about which nostalgic pop and rock songs Gunn would choose to feature. It's little wonder, then, that the director is facing similar questions about The Suicide Squad.
Asked on Twitter if he had any "juicy tunes" lined up for The Suicide Squad, Gunn replied, "Just might." Responding to follow-up questions, he explained that he's successfully licensed every song he's sought for a movie, but "there are LOTS of songs I’ve wanted to find a space for and haven’t been able to. Hundreds." Gunn named Alice Cooper, Queen, T. Rex and Stevie Wonder as just a few artists whose songs he's been unable to find the "perfect fit" for. Returning to the topic of The Suicide Squad's soundtrack, he said:
It makes sense that The Suicide Squad's soundtrack will be very different from Gunn's two Marvel movies, given that the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtracks are built around the idea that they're mix-tapes made for Peter Quill by his mother, featuring music that she loved when she was growing up. That's why the pop songs in both Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 are all from the 1960s and 1970s.
Ayer's Suicide Squad, which many saw as Warner Bros.' attempt to mimic Guardians of the Galaxy's formula, also featured a prominent jukebox soundtrack along with four singles that were created for the movie. The soundtrack was a major component of Suicide Squad's marketing, with Jared Leto filming a music video for Skrillex and Rick Ross' "Purple Lamborghini" in character as the Joker. The film drew mostly negative reviews, and one of the common criticisms was that the songs felt like they had been dropped into the movie with little thought or care (particularly in the opening, where "House of the Rising Sun," "You Don't Own Me" and "Sympathy For the Devil" are played back-to-back in quick succession).
Among his many skills as a director, Gunn has a particular talent for assembling excellent soundtracks that mix well-known songs with deeper cuts, and perfectly compliment the scenes that they're matched with. Looking Glass' "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" and Cat Stevens' "Father and Son" served as emotional cornerstones of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Hopefully The Suicide Squad will be defy concerns that it might just be a DC version of Guardians, and have a style and soundtrack that's radically different from Gunn's Marvel movies.
