James Gunn Talks 'The Suicide Squad,' Peacemaker Series, and Reinventing Task Force-X [The Fourth Wall #37]

A great comic book movie requires a lot of elements to fall into place. You need a great special effects team, at least one compelling hero or antihero to rally behind for two hours, and a snappy script peppered with engaging action. However, most of all, you need a fearless and endlessly inventive director bringing all of the other pieces together. Without fail, the greatest comic book films have had extraordinary creatives at the helm, whether it be Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy Sam Raimi with “Spider-Man,” James Mangold with “Logan”...or James Gunn when he successfully brought the Guardians of the Galaxy to life catapulting them from obscure to iconic in the public eye overnight instantly becoming  MCU fan favorites.

Seven years later, Gunn has done it again with his quasi-reboot of the big-screen version of DC’s Suicide Squad, “The Suicide Squad.” Putting the definitive article at the front of his title is no mistake; by extracting Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and a handful of other characters from previous films and transplanting them into a new story with an otherwise completely blank slate cast, Gunn’s latest film finally gives the enduring antihero franchise the explosive, violent, dark cinematic representation that it truly deserves. Set after, but also separate from, 2016’s “Suicide Squad,” the film centers on a group of inmates in Belle Reve Penitentiary, including Quinn, Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), and King Shark (Sylvester Stallone). Inducted into Task Force X in exchange for reduced/suspended sentences and other arrangements, the Suicide Squad are sent to a laboratory on Corto Maltese in order to destroy it, bury government secrets, and find themselves in conflict with Starro, a giant alien starfish.

“What separates this movie from Guardians of the Galaxy is that [in Guardians] at the beginning we know they’re probably good guys,” said Gunn on how the process of crafting a film around not-so-good-guys differs from when you craft one around a group of heroes. “When Rocket says he’s gonna shoot Drax’s face off, we don’t really believe him, but when someone says they’re gonna kill someone in this movie, they might, and sometimes do.”

When it comes to how Gunn attached himself to such a different group this time around, it was easy for him. “There’s a lot of loss here,” said Gunn. “Some of these characters are redeemable and some are not. We don’t know who’s going to show some heart, who’s going to die, who’s going to live. And it is those stakes that make it exciting for me to tell this story.” Elaborating further on the bond he creates with his characters, Gunn added, “I feel having compassion for those characters, even villains, is important, [and] if I’m not having fun with a character, finding their voice, I’m writing them out of the picture.”

During my conversation with James Gunn, we dive deep into all things “The Suicide Squad,” more details on the upcoming Peacemaker series, why Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and his convictions make him so endearing, the meteoric rise of Harley Quinn, and why we all love her, and how working on “The Suicide Squad” ended up being the first time Gunn truly enjoyed the shooting process.

"The Suicide Squad" hits theaters and HBO Max this Friday, Aug. 6.