It looks like James Gunn has made himself at home over at DC. Though the filmmaker’s due to return to Marvel for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, his creative partnership with the House of Ideas’ rivals seems to be in better shape these days. He got full creative control on his upcoming The Suicide Squad and he’s already completed production on spinoff series Peacemaker, starring John Cena’s vigilante. It wouldn’t be a shock, then, for the writer/director to return for many more projects.
Sure enough, a new report is pointing to Warner Bros. being very keen to get him back for Suicide Squad 3. Giant Freakin Robot has heard from their sources that the studio wants Gunn – and only Gunn – to helm a third entry in the saga of Task Force X. Though David Ayer kicked off the franchise in 2016, WB isn’t interested in letting Gunn go and handing the reins to someone else for the next film. It seems that, as far as they’re concerned, Gunn’s the key to unlocking the potential of this corner of the DCEU.
On top of another movie, the studio is also said to want him to spearhead multiple more spinoff series for HBO Max following Peacemaker. Just as that project was Gunn’s own concept, GFR writes that WB is willing to let him pursue whichever characters he wants for further offshoots of the movies. This continues the surprising amount of leeway execs have given Gunn so far. He was allowed an R-rating for TSS, for example, something Ayer was denied on the first film.
This much faith in the filmmaker is a bit of a bold move considering that neither his debut DC flick nor Peacemaker have actually come out yet. Clearly, WB must consider the enormous popularity of the Guardians of the Galaxy flicks as enough evidence that it’s going to be worth their while to stick by James Gunn for the long-term. Fans have loved what they’ve seen of The Suicide Squad so far so the odds are they’ve made the right bet. Catch it when it hits theaters and streaming on August 6th.
