Suicide Squad Is “Dirty Dozen With Supervillains,” Says David Ayer

David Ayer might currently be doing the press rounds for his new film Fury, but now that he’s been confirmed to helm Warner Brothers’ Suicide Squad movie, he’s not going to be able to escape the questions about how he’ll bring the iconic DC Comics supervillain team to the big screen.

Empire managed to sit Ayer down for an interview recently and got him talking about his excitement for Suicide Squad and what his vision for the film will be. For those unfamiliar, the Suicide Squad are a team of supervillains who band together (against their will) to complete dangerous black-ops missions for the government, in exchange for shortened prison sentences.

Luckily, Ayer won’t shy away from what makes the Suicide Squad so special, and his vision for the film is quite encouraging for fans:

“Fury whetted my appetite for a bigger canvas and this idea of world creation. You can do amazing things as a filmmaker if you have the proper tools, and those are time and money. I can say that it’s a Dirty Dozen with supervillains. Then I can ask the question, ‘Does a movie really need good guys?'”

One of the biggest questions raised by the film’s announcement was, of course, about which DC villains would fill the team’s roster. We’ve heard rumors that characters like Amanda Waller, Deadshot, Vixen and Captain Boomerang would make the cut, and Ayer seems to confirm that Captain Boomerang will in fact be a part of the team. When asked about how he would go about casting the “antipodean asshat” and “Australian racist,” Ayer said:

“Like one would cast any other role. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m going to do what I do in my typical fever dream of directing.”

Up to this point in his career, Ayer has stuck to bringing more realistic, grounded stories to the screen. The DC Cinematic Universe may often be described as a more “grounded” take on the superhero genre, but there’s an absolute sense of belief suspension and a more fantastical world when dealing with supervillains. Ayer says he’s looking forward to the change of pace and is excited to jump into the comic book world:

“I love the passion [fans] have for these characters and these worlds. I think there’s something incredible about the comic genre and technology has finally caught up with pen and ink to render these fantastical worlds in a way that feels believable and visceral to audiences. It’s a secular religion in that regards. The mythology that these characters represent – the idea of them as fallen gods on Earth – is intriguing to me. I can’t wait to start exploring those corridors.”

As a big fan of the Suicide Squad, I can’t wait to see what Ayer has in store. He’s under a bit of pressure, as his film is the first one out the gate once Zack Snyder kicks off the DCCU in a big way with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, but I think he’s up for the challenge.

Suicide Squad is scheduled to hit theaters on August 5th, 2016.