James Gunn reveals a playlist full of songs that didn't make the cut for his forthcoming DC Extended Universe sequel The Suicide Squad. Written and directed by the Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker, the story centers on the titular team of supervillains as they are tasked with venturing to the fictional South American island of Corto Maltese to destroy the Nazi-era prison and laboratory, Jotunheim. They find their mission upended with the arrival of the kaiju-sized telepathic starfish, Starro.
The cast for the film sees the returns of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang. It will also see the DCEU introductions of Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, Sylvester Stallone as King Shark, Peter Capaldi as The Thinker, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, Nathan Fillion as Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, Michael Rooker as Savant, Pete Davidson as Blackguard and Sean Gunn as Weasel. Despite this large roster of new and returning characters, no one is safe as Gunn's frequently teased most will be dead by the end.
Gunn recently met with Empire to offer plenty of insight and exclusive material for The Suicide Squad. Included in the mix was a playlist of songs that didn't make the cut for the film, including Johnny Cash's "Rusty Cage," and his reasoning for why they weren't featured in the film. See Gunn's explanations and playlist below:
- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash: “When we were almost done with the movie we heard that Guy Ritchie’s Wrath Of Man, which was coming out a couple of months before us, was using ‘Folsom Prison Blues’. So we almost used this — then I decided I just like ‘FPB’ better for the scene; I’ll let the chips fall where they may.”
- What a Way to Die by The Pleasure Seekers: “I love this old garage-rock tune, which was briefly considered for the opening credits instead of ‘People Who Died’ by The Jim Carroll Band.”
- Draw the Line by Aerosmith: “This played over the Osprey flying over the ocean and dropping the squad members into the water for a long time. It worked great, but, after our co-producer Simon Hatt suggested we could use a bit more tension in the scene, I thought John Murphy’s score might fulfill our needs better. And it does! But I still miss this, probably my favorite Aerosmith track (and I love a lot of them).”
- Somos Sur by Ana Tijoux feat. Shadia Mansour: “Ana Tijoux is a Chilean-French singer I adore, and I almost used this song when the gang pulls up outside the Corto Maltesian brothel. But the scene was shortened enough in editing that we just used the K Flay song we used inside, ‘Can’t Sleep’ — but starting it outside.”
- The Human Paradox by Dynazty and Resistré by Resistré México: “These were both great songs we had in early cuts before my friend Grandson wrote his original classic ‘Rain’ for the same scene. That said, I’m using the Dynazty song — one of my favourite metal tunes — in a future project.”
- Death on Two Legs by Queen: “This was briefly considered for the big Harley Quinn action sequence back in the script stage (yes, I write all of the songs into the script), before I came up with the final choice for the scene.”
- A Perfect Miracle by Spiritualized: “Part of the finale was originally this wonderful song by this incredible band — sadly, it just didn’t work that well. Another song I’d like to use on screen someday... There are too many to count!”
- Sometimes by Kero Kero Bonito and El Pueblo Unida Jamas Sera Vencido by Inti-Illimani: “These were both considered for the end credits.”
Click here to listen to the playlist
Since breaking out in the blockbuster world with Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn has become well-known for his musical choices included in his films. Often crafting scenes around certain songs while simultaneously finding good songs to pair them with after the fact, Gunn has a clear grip on a great soundtrack, namely in the realm of classic rock. Shortly after signing on to the project, Gunn did tease the film would be music-heavy, albeit differently than the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.
Looking at the trailers for the film, The Suicide Squad has certainly seen a fair share of exciting tracks paired with the DCEU action. Gunn's playlist of songs that didn't make the cut certainly points to a tonally-disparate soundtrack from Guardians of the Galaxy and not in a bad way. With just a month remaining until the film arrives, it will be interesting to see the final result and see if WB and Gunn reveal the full soundtrack prior.
Source: Empire
