The Suicide Squad star John Cena says that James Gunn's 2021 film will neither be a sequel nor a reboot to 2016's Suicide Squad. Gunn's taking his own approach to the rated R version of the dark comic story after David Ayer's 2016 film first brought the supervillains to the big screen. Gunn's version will feature a handful of characters from Ayer’s original, notably Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and Viola Davis' Amanda Waller. But plenty of newcomers will be thrown into the mix.
Harley Quinn will serve as the main character alongside Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) as they lead a handful of deranged villains to Task Force X. The rag-tag gang will take on a mission to unearth secrets regarding a mysterious army compound, which they assume are suicide missions straight from the government. Notable characters include John Cena's Peacemaker, Idris Elba's Bloodsport and King Shark, voiced by Sylvester Stallone. Warner Bros. will release the film both in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6.
While Suicide Squad made its own unique splash in 2016, Cena recently told The Observer that fans shouldn't expect a typical sequel when it comes to Gunn's take. And while some are referring to the film as a reboot of sorts, Cena says that doesn't exactly hit the nail on the head either. Check out what clues he gave about the film below.
“Perception is everything, and I won’t change your perception. But I’ll offer my own. The Suicide Squad is neither a sequel nor reboot. The Suicide Squad is the Suicide Squad from the brain of one of the most amazingly twisted creative minds in James Gunn that I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. James is so gifted in so many ways. The good thing about what’s going on with The Suicide Squad is exactly what you’re saying. People are kind of expecting to be something. But nobody’s ready to see this movie. Everyone needs it in their life, trust me. But nobody’s ready to see what it is. Nobody.”
It's clear that Cena and Gunn have forged a connection throughout the production of The Suicide Squad. And that spawned Gunn to create an HBO spinoff surrounding the WWE wrestler's character. The Peacemaker series will be an eight-episode spinoff set to premiere in January 2022. Considering the production delays surrounding Gunn's directorial role of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, he obviously had time on his hands to not only perfect his ideal Suicide Squad story but work on the subsequent Peacemaker spinoff.
It's been previously reported that Gunn's The Suicide Squad will stand on its own as a film, so audiences won't need to watch the 2016 version before heading to theaters. And Cena's comments are adding to that idea. And while the 2016 Suicide Squad was a box office success, critics and comic book audiences were not impressed. So Gunn's take could be the chance to win over die-hard fans of the classic comics while introducing new characters and storylines into the DCEU. And after the Harley Quinn spinoff film Birds Of Prey struggled at the box office, The Suicide Squad has a real chance to re-introduce the cast of crazy supervillains to a mainstream movie audience.
Source: The Observer
