The Suicide Squad originally had a darker ending than what ended up in the film. After David Ayer's 2016 Suicide Squad became a mockery for moviegoers, Warner Bros. still continued to want to make the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) work. They greenlit another film to continue this particular story, although a lot of changes were made. It follows a collection of criminals who are brought together to compose Task Force X. They are brought to the South American island called Corto Maltese to destroy a Nazi-era lab and save the world. The new group is composed of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), among others.
Filmmaker James Gunn is not new to working with superhero properties. He made the incredibly successful Marvel films, Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. However, Gunn was initially fired from working on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 due to old social media posts that touched on sensitive topics. As soon as the news spread of his firing, he was instantly reached out to for various other projects. He ultimately decided on wanting to make The Suicide Squad. Gunn was later brought back on board to make Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
In an interview with THR, Gunn talked about his experience working on his most recent project and addition to the DCEU. In particular, he went into detail about the creative freedom that he had working on the film. When asked how Warner Bros. took him wanting to include characters such as Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher 2, he explained that they practically allowed him to make the film he pitched. The only difference he noted was that his original pitch had a darker ending than what ended up in the film. See below for his full statement:
"I mean, that was my original pitch to Walt [Hamada] and Toby [Emmerich] over at Warner Bros. I brought in pictures of all those guys because I knew it would be hard to keep track of. So I brought in all these photos from the comics of all the different characters that are on team one, team two, and Starro. And the pitch was almost exactly what the movie was. There’s actually a little bit of a darker ending to the pitch that changed, but besides that, everything was exactly the same. It was just as edgy as it is in the movie itself."
One of the major comparisons made between the DCEU and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the overall tone of the universes. Marvel is generally considered to be much lighter, while DC is known for being darker in both appearance and its tone. While Gunn doesn't go into detail on what his original ending was, he did note that otherwise, the movie itself is as edgy as the pitch itself. Perhaps one day in the future he'll go into more detail on what his original plan was for the ending.
Given that The Suicide Squad places villains as the leads, Hollywood blockbusters have been exploring slightly different perspectives over the years. There was a point in time where making an R-rated superhero movie was totally out of the question. However, with movies like Deadpool and The Suicide Squad, the opportunity has been presented to still be able to make a successful superhero film with the R-rating. While the MCU may have tonally dark moments here and there, the DCEU is more upfront with its dark themes. Perhaps this original ending was a bit too dark by the DCEU's standards or maybe it just didn't fit well, but for now that's all mere speculation. Audiences will have to wait and see how The Suicide Squad's violence impacts studios' decision to include that type of content moving forward.
Source: THR
