"The Suicide Squad": James Gunn Fanatics Predict and Praise DC's New Comic Book Movie Masterpiece

Author’s Note: What you are about to read is the second entry in a series I call “Conversations and Passions,” in which I sit down with a person or group of people—a friend, teacher, peer, family member or even stranger—and we discuss a particular movie, film series, or aspect of filmmaking that relates to their passion. For my second entry in this series, I sat down with my best friend Eric Richars—an avid film buff and enthusiast who has a passion for editing and making videos on the side—to talk about our most anticipated film of 2021: James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad.” Over the course of many months, many hangouts, and many conversations that ended up totalling two and a half hours combined, Eric and I discussed our excitement for the movie, what characters we are looking forward to, predicted who lives and who dies, and gawked over our shared love for Gunn’s filmmaking aesthetic. A massive thanks to my dear friend for putting up with the many questions and passionate rants on my end. Enjoy reading about our hype for the movie before you see “The Suicide Squad,” now in theaters and streaming exclusively on HBO Max until September 6th.

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Sam Tarter (ST): So it’s safe to say that ‘The Suicide Squad’ is our most anticipated movie of 2021. Obviously, we know James Gunn from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ but it's been four years since we've had a James Gunn movie. The trailers have shown all the crazy characters, the insanely ambitious action scenes and visual effects, and it just seems so bonkers.So what excites you most about seeing the return of a James Gunn movie?

Eric Richars (ER): I don't think there's one definitive answer to that question, but I am very excited that James is back in the director’s chair, because I really like his style of movies. I love the way he matches grit and realism with absurd characters and beautiful color schemes. In all honesty, I haven't seen the entirety of his other movies but I've seen clips from YouTube, and he always has a very distinct, tangible ‘James Gunn’ style, which is very cool. With ‘Guardians’ you could often see it with the music and the visuals. I have a list of my top five directors, which includes James Gunn, Guy Ritchie, Edgar Wright, Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg. So he's one of my favorites for sure, because he always brings his own aesthetic, passion, and “flavor” to his movies.

Also, I love the cast. In general, I love that he just went all out with characters people have never heard of before. Like Polka-Dot Man or Ratcatcher II, or even more absurd with Javelin, Blackguard, and T.D.K. (which is a new name for him right?)

ST: Yeah in the comics it's like Arm-Fall-Off-Boy. (laughter)

ER: I love that, and I think it's a reference to Batman, the Dark Knight. Like I know he is playing The Detachable Kid, but T.D.K. is what everybody shortchanges for ‘The Dark Knight’ movie, so, yeah, it's a very clever name.

ER: Also I'm a sucker for visual effects, as I make videos myself. I think my favorite visual effects shot so far was King Shark ripping the skeleton out of that soldier with the lighting striking behind him and it's just pouring rain. That was just absolutely insane, and visually stunning.

It felt like James Gunn wasn’t holding back with that scene, and overall I feel like the movie itself is a no-limits James Gunn movie where he doesn’t have to shy away from the craziness and graphicness that he wants to show on screen. I think every movie—and every comic book movie—that he's made before this, it's led up to ‘The Suicide Squad,’ In terms of showing comic book characters and in terms of integrating music into a movie, he got that from ‘Guardians’. Also with matching heart and emotions with action that has some excessive blood and gore, he got that from making all those horror movies back in the day. He thrives in horror.

ST: Yeah, so it really feels like, for me at least, that this is Warner Brothers and DC saying, “James, you make amazing movies, do everything that you're good at and do everything that you want with no PG-13 rating.” They aren’t even having him set them up for the next movie, they’re just saying, ‘Do whatever you want to, include whoever you want and kill off whoever you want, and you don’t even have to set it up for a sequel.” It definitely feels like a passion project, and that makes me very excited. Would you agree?

ER: Yeah, I would totally agree. And one other thing that I think James is good at besides music and action and visuals and all that stuff is he's very good at character development making you love his characters. Nobody knew or gave a shit about Peter Quill or any of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Nobody knew Groot, I don't think anybody would have cared about a talking raccoon, but now they're household names. I totally agree with you when you say that it's a passion project. I think he's gonna pour all of his passion into making these characters awesome. Some of them you can already tell are going to be great like Ratcatcher II. We've seen some scenes with her talking to Bloodsport, and she seems like she could be the heart of the movie and I'm really looking forward to seeing that.

ST: It's kind of like Cyborg in the new ‘Justice League,’ where you relate to him, you get attached to him, you care for and about him, and you root for him essentially the whole way through.

ER: Yeah, for sure. I know this is an unpopular opinion but Hawkeye is my favorite Avenger, because I feel like he was the heart of the movie in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron.’ I'm definitely a fan of when there are clear, distinct characters that are the hearts of the movie and who keep the audience invested emotionally.

ST: Absolutely. So with how some actors and characters are returning and DC hasn’t rebooted yet, it's very evident that ‘The Suicide Squad’ takes place in the same universe and same continuity as the first movie from 2016. Sadly, that movie was just a big mess up by the studio. It got completely butchered in post-production. Maybe someday we'll get the fabled ‘Ayer Cut.’ I doubt it, but that’s life, you know. But, in a way it's weird because this movie is not considered a sequel to the original, but we still have Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn coming back, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag It’s a shame we couldn’t get Will Smith back, but I heard that originally Idris Elba was written as a replacement or a recast for Smith’s Deadshot. But I believe it was WB who said, “No, Will Smith is too big of an actor and he might want to come back in the future, so make him somebody else.” In a way, I'm glad that they went with Bloodsport as someone new. He’s really badass, he doesn’t hold back, and this more brutal character seems to fit Idris Elba way better.

ER: It’s good that they just got a new cast overall, instead of totally replacing and recasting everyone from the first movie.

ST: Yeah, like, obviously Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, she is gonna knock it out of the park. There really is no replacing her, and I think that James has really perfected that character. I know you haven't seen ‘Birds of Prey’ yet, but she's amazing as Harley again, she does a great job. I think this will definitely play more into better humor with Harley’s character. The humor in ‘Birds of Prey,’ it was okay, but it kind of made her feel like an idiot, as for this one it feels like it's gonna be more character based humor, which I love.

ER: One more thing I like about Gunn’s characters and a great aspect about the actors he chooses to play those characters is not so much their dialogue but it's often their physical language that I've noticed. So let's say the last ‘Suicide Squad,’ for example, it was a lot of people talking. There was some body language to show that a certain character was aggressive or a loner or anything like that, but it wasn't a lot of character influenced dialogue. So yeah, physical language is great. I noticed in this new trailer with Polka-Dot Man, he seems very shy and cowardly. It's almost like Gollum from ‘Lord of the Rings.’ In that scene when Starro is seen bursting out of the ground, he’s hunched over almost like a troll under a bridge. He seems so timid and out of place. It's kind of like a rat, ironically. Maybe Ratcatcher II will control him too (laughter).

ST: Naturally, James knocks it out of the park with his cinematography every single time, but especially with what we have seen of this film. There have been some shots that are simply stunning and in many ways epic to look at. Whether it's the wide shots of the team walking behind that massive American flag or in the pouring rain, or the shots of Harley Quinn spinning around, shooting guns and having flowers explode behind her, his action cinematography looks incredible. Even shots as simple as Peacemaker shooting his excessively long pistol, with the cinematography and the angle choices and the way he frames a shot, it's all very, very well done, very finely crafted and very professional. That’s what I would describe the look of the cameras as: professional and gritty and legit and, despite it being an absolutely bonkers comic book movie, it feels real. Are you seeing any directors or cinematographers that you think Gunn is evoking, or is this all him?

ER: As for action, I think he draws inspiration from—because I know he's a fan of foreign films—classic Japanese, samurai movies. Maybe some martial arts and Kung Fu movies. The punches and kicks… they feel real and they look like they hurt. Overall, though, I think James has an original view and explicitly distinct feel and look to his movies. In many ways, James Gunn is the closest you’re gonna get to the new original of today.

ST: I agree. Speaking of samurai and gritty action, I was very disappointed that Katana did not return because I just felt that she was completely underutilized in the first film. Not only did she not have an arc and not have any great action scenes (and you know how much I love Samurai action) but in the comics she is such a cool character and I wanted James Gunn to use her to her full extent. They say it as a joke in the first movie when they’re like “I advise not getting killed by her… her sword traps the souls of it victims,” and in the comics I believe she's essentially pulled an Aragorn from ‘Lord of the Rings,’ where all the ghosts come out of her sword and fight as an undead army. She’s such a cool character with such a cool backstory and power/skill set, it sucks that she didn't make the cut for this movie, especially since James is such a big fan of those old samurai movies, it would have been cool to see how he would use her in this movie.

ER: Oh my god, James Gunn using a samurai sword character would’ve been amazing. That reminds me, he wasn’t in the first movie, he’s just a villain from the DC universe that I wish he would’ve put in there just for fun, but I wish Ra's al Ghul could’ve somehow made an appearance, either as a villain to the team or an ally or maybe in a flashback. He’s a very cool villain, he’s a Batman and Green Arrow character, and while I don’t think he would work on the team, he would have had a nice dynamic with Katana like you said. As an immortal, ninja villain who has power over Katana, it would’ve been cool to see her being forced to work with her or atleast see him in a flashback. It’s also a good way to worldbuild and introduce The League of Assassins. We need a DC ninja movie.

ER: As for characters who got left out of this movie, I did not want to see the Joker again. I love the Joker, I think he's a great character, but we've used him too much in recent years and I think it's time for him to sit on the bench, especially for a movie like this. So I’m glad he is not in this film.

ST: Yeah, I wish we had Katana in this movie just so we can give her a second chance. Kind of like with Rick Flag, like I'm so glad he is in this movie because Joel Kinnaman is a great actor, and it seems like he was allowed to be a cooler and more comedic version of the character, not some soldier with a stick up his butt. I also wish they would have thrown in Killer Croc. It would have been so cool to see a team up between Killer Croc, King Shark and The Weasel… just to have three animal characters either have a scene where they talk amongst one another, fight each other, or fight together in battle. Especially since King Shark and Weasel probably aren't gonna get any screen time together, it would’ve been nice to see that trio interact. It also would have been very nice to see somebody that has some ice or cold powers whether it be Captain Cold, or Killer Frost, or Mr. Freeze, I just think turning things into ice or freezing your enemies is such a badass and visually stunning power set. As of right now, the only visually impressive characters are Polka-Dot Man—who is literally throwing colorful, explosive polka dots out of his body—and Ratcatcher II. I mean, that one shot of her in the trailer with all the rats swarming around her… it's an unexpectedly badass and incredible superpower.

ER: This guy's not a villain, so it would have to be a Katana situation where you have someone there as a bodyguard or to help keep the squad in check, but I was thinking maybe Green Arrow would be a cool character to include. Preferably I would like to see Charlie Hunnam as Green Arrow because he really embodies that vigilante, Robin Hood-esque character. But obviously, as an archer myself and a big Hawkeye fan, I would like to see James utilize a character who wields a bow and arrow. But beyond his weaponry, he’s a very funny, charismatic character, so he would play well off people like Harley Quinn and Bloodsport.

ST: Oh for sure, James would do great with that character both action-wise and dialogue wise… he could make for some great jokes and quips. But something I love about Green Arrow is his trick weapons, like a bomb arrow, net arrow, zipline arrow, even something as crazy as a punching bag arrow. James could have a lot of fun utilizing him in action scenes. You could also do something where some of the villains on the team were put in prison by Green Arrow, so them being forced to work together again could create some tension within the group and some infighting. Maybe James will try it out for a sequel.

ST: Speaking of weapons, do you think there are too many characters using guns? According to my count, we have seven in total: Rick Flag, Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Harley Quinn, Blackguard, Savant, and Sol Soria. Do you think maybe we could use more diversity in power or weapons, or do you think it fits since it is styled like a 1970’s war movie?

ER: I would say that I trust James with choosing characters and displaying what makes them unique when it comes to weapons and skill set, so even if it seems that there are too many characters with guns, he will find a way to make it work. What makes me think it's gonna work is that they each have different guns… there’s no two of the same weapon. Blackguard has his assassin pistols. Bloodsport has his massive, nanite-infused, crazy spinning gun. Peacemaker has his exaggeratedly long pistol. Rick Flagg has a shotgun. Savant has his sniper pistol. Sol Soria has just a basic military machine gun. Harley has her two revolver pistols and a bazooka.

They really diversified all the weaponry and so I feel like that will help with keeping the action and characters fresh. I just wanna say again that I trust James Gunn with all of that, and it'll all work out.

ST: Absolutely, that’s a really good point actually. What made me think of it is that I tried rewatching the first Suicide Squad, and I couldn't even get through it. Like I couldn't get through a mere 30 minutes of it, and part of what made me turn it off is that the action was just so basic. Because even though you have characters like Harley and Deadshot, they’re all firing away and shooting at the bad guys the same as the military guys who have machine guns. Even though there were different weapons, everything felt the same. But that was a different director, and James clearly knows how to shoot and showcase good action.

ER: I would like to ask you a question though: which characters are you most excited for?

ST: This feels like cheating but, currently, it's a tie between four characters. I would love to say King Shark. He seems like the perfect match of comedy and action. He’s voiced by Slyvester Stallone, which in and of itself is hilarious, but he’s giving the character a voice—in combination with the motion capture and VFX—that make him seem like a funny, confused and oblivious, but also angry, man-eating toddler. I think King Shark will be the comedic core of the movie. Another oblivious, comedic but also badass character that I’m excited to see is Peacemaker. He’s played by John Cena who is so funny and charismatic that I can’t not be excited to see what he does. His costume is ridiculous and comics-accurate that I love it. But most importantly, putting in a character that is so obsessed with peace he is driven to insanity and doesn’t care who he kills to reach his goal, that is peak James Gunn character right there. Also, he's getting his own TV show, so you know Cena gives a great performance and that Gunn loves the character enough to continue with him. Also, Ratcatcher II, mainly based on power-set like I said before, but she seems like she will be the heart and soul of the movie overall. Like I said earlier, I’m also excited for Polka-Dot Man. I think his powers and costume are awesome and visually stunning. The actor—David Dastmalchian—usually does comedy so I’m excited to see him portray a “tragic character,” as James Gunn described him. It’s also interesting to see a member of the Suicide Squad who is actually suicidal and has a death wish. Once again, his story is tragic, and we know he is in constant pain with polka dots coming out of his body like sores and warts. I think he will be the emotional heart of the movie for me, in terms of feeling sympathy for him and wanting him to finally gain friends and live a meaningful life. It’s a good sign that James Gunn is creating deep and important characters that you care about and feel bad for, and I hope he gets a redemptive arc in the movie.

ER: My list is the same as you: Polka-Dot Man, Ratcatcher II, and King Shark. I’m excited for all of the members of the team, but those three especially and for the same reasons as you. King Shark I'm looking forward to because I think he's got that sweet, childish personality, which is really fun. I love that he'll be a gentle giant that eats people.

I am also really glad that Rick Flag is back. From everything that we have seen so far I think he's going to be a really cool character. I originally didn't think he was gonna be one I'd be looking forward to that much, but after that featurette out where Joel Kinnaman, “I'm really playing on the kindness part, which is something you didn't really see last time,” I’m excited to see a kinder, more lighthearted leader for the team. Not to say he was a jerk or anything, in the first movie, but I think he has a bit more personality this time around. Not so much the character I’m looking forward to, but the actor I am most looking forward to the most—no matter how briefly this person is in the movie—is Pete Davidson. He's always really good at playing himself, so I'm curious if Blackguard is going to be Pete Davidson as a supervillain or if he's doing something different with this character this time. I am also really looking forward to Nathan Fillion’s T.D.K., cause he is a great, hilarious actor, and it just looks like his powers are going to be super, laugh-out-loud funny.

ER: Now, which characters are you least excited for?

ST: Maybe my perception of her will change after I see the movie, but I’m just not excited for Mongal because I don't really know the actress that well and I don't know the character all too well either. I know she is an alien with super strength and she is a Superman villain. She seems like an okay villain from what I've heard of her but she hasn't done anything in the trailers yet and she isn't really in the trailers that much. There is the one shot of her jumping and hanging onto the helicopter, but then it crashes and explodes so I’m thinking she might die quickly and comedically, and not do anything. Each character so far has had some form of a cool or funny moment in the trailers, either by showing off their weapon or powers or telling a joke, and they all feel like they have a needed presence in the movie. I know she is on that first team that goes to the beach, and they all are probably going to die, but even then I think it's gonna be used for comedy like the X-Force in ‘Deadpool 2.’ So far, everyone looked awesome or hilarious except for her, so I hope she does or says something in the movie that we just haven’t seen yet. Maybe they're saving all her moments and lines so we can see her finally do something awesome and badass with her Alien-abilities in the movie, but right now she seems unnecessary. Sadly, I could see her being an exposition character. She's an alien, and the main villain Starro is a parasitic alien from space, so she could be in the movie simply to give exposition and then die hysterically. Javelin I could also go without. He just seems like he’s gonna be a douche that dies a comedic death, maybe by his own weapon.

ST: What about you? Anyone you’re not excited for?

ER: As we have gotten closer to the release, I am not as excited for Weasel as much as the other characters. For a movie like this you need a character who is complete chaos, and Weasel is just that. He’s a giant, crazy, rabid, anthropomorphic animal. He can’t talk like King Shark, and he isn’t crazy but with a good heart like Harley, and I find myself not being as invested in characters that are nothing but chaos.

ST: For sure. So to wrap up our section on the many characters of this movie, the main villain is Starro, a giant, Kaiju-sized alien starfish who has an army of smaller starfish who latch onto people’s faces and mind control them. Personally, I love that he is the villain because he is such a deep cut (he was the first Justice League villain in the comics), and James clearly loves comics lore and he wanted to include such a crazy, insane villain for this movie. I also feel that he is a perfect mix of threatening (he is a giant starfish after all) but capable of being taken down because this version of the squad is powerful enough. Now, am I being hypocritical? Because I genuinely hated how the first Suicide Squad was with the villain’s powers compared to the squad’s powers. Barely any of the squad members had legit superpowers, it was all just guns and weaponry, and yet they're trying to take on a witch and a giant magical monster. Now they're taking out a giant alien starfish, and my suspension of disbelief is gone. I'm like, “Oh, yeah, that’s cool. It fits because it's James Gunn, and he can pull this off.” Am I hypocritical at all or…?

ER: Well, I think it's because there’s no magic powers the villain is easier to defeat. But no, I don't think you're being hypocritical at all. I just love that it's some absurd villain that only James Gunn could do, and yeah, he is from the bottom of the barrel of comics, but almost all of these characters are. Hopefully we see in the movie an instance of all the mini starfish latching onto people’s faces, mind-controlling them, and turning soldiers and allies and enemies against the squad. It could be some instance of a mindless drone army or a hive-mind villain, or something.

Red Band one really knocked it out of the park by using ‘Dirty Work’ by Steely Dan. I think I've listened to that song once a day since that first trailer came out, it's just so catchy, and it reminded me so much of his previous films by using great music that so many people have never heard before. James admitted the song will actually be in the movie, it won’t just be in the trailer, which is awesome...

ER: I am so excited for that playlist… it’s gonna be incredible.

ST: Right, and he keeps saying ‘The Suicide Squad” is like a 70s war movie, and obviously I'm really big into the music of the Vietnam War and the 70s and all that stuff. I know what songs I want him to include, but are there any that you hope show up on the playlist? Or any particular artists you hope he puts in there? And with James Gunn’s soundtracks, so many songs are utilized to fit for the character specifically. Are there any other songs that you think that you want to be in the movie that you think would fit with certain characters?

ER: There is one song I think would work for a certain character, and that is “Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads for Polka-Dot Man. This song could work for so many characters on the team, but him specifically because he says it himself: he’s the crazy one. So with him being so aware of how psychotic he is and probably being in prison for the death of a loved one, I think that song would work well in a flashback or introduction scene for him.

I can't think of a song specifically for her, but I think that when it comes to Ratcatcher II, as I’ve said she's very much the soul of the group, the very kind and compassionate member. So having some gentle piano music play during her intro or flashback scenes would be very fitting since she is clearly a very good person who went down the wrong path. Some soft, gentle music for her backstory would work well.

For Rick Flag, I have a couple ideas. Obviously, he is a very classic comics character and he is very old-fashioned and patriotic, so some classic rock and roll would work really well for him. Music or artists that are distinctly American. Maybe some Queen or Rolling Stones, too, so long as the song they use isn’t too cliche. There is also a song called “Soldier” by Fleurie, and I think because they are playing on his kindness aspect more, it could also be playing on the hardships and empathy of him, and this song would work really well for that. There’s also another song called “Soldier” by Neffex which could work for Bloodsport or Peacemaker since they are soldiers too, but this song is about more of a harder, more deadly and grizzled war hero.

ST: A while ago on Spotify, I found a concept playlist for the movie, and a lot of the songs were dedicated to or in reference to the members on the team. Some just had the same name, like “Peacemaker” by Green Day, “Bloodsport ‘15” by Raleigh Ritchie (which was very fitting because it was a song about protecting your loved ones, so it could fit in Bloodsport’s relationship with his daughter and being a father figure for Ratcatcher II). There were others that were pretty specific like “Detachable Penis” for T.D.K., but I found others that I hope make it into the movie. “Loser” by Beck for Polka-Dot Man because he’s so timid and unsure of himself, and “She’s a Rainbow” for Harley Quinn because she’s literally the most colorful person on the team and it fits for someone who’s so joyful but so badshit insane.

But once again, since it is styled like a 70’s war movie, I’m hoping for a song or two by The Doors, and maybe some CCR... ‘Fortunate Son’ would be really cool, but it’s so overused in movies at this point.

ER: I was about to say ‘Fortunate Son’ when you asked me that, but it seems a little cliche.

ST: Yeah, and that's where it gets tricky. You want to include good songs that fit the movie, but not ones that are so popular that they take you out of it. In the original ‘Suicide Squad,’ I felt that it had plenty of solid music, but it was all so cliche. I vividly remember sitting there, watching it and thinking: “Are you kidding me? You're playing ‘House of the Rising Sun’ and ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ back-to-back? That's too on the nose!” Whereas with a song like ‘Dirty Work,’not only had I never heard that song before, but it fit with the film and the premise without being too heavy-handed. Since these are bad guys doing work for other people that they don't want to do, not only is it clever, but it fits and it's subtle.

ER: Yeah, like how in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ ‘Spirit in the Sky’ plays when they’re flying in the Milano. He does a good job at matching the scene with the song in a way that fits and immerses you more in the movie, rather than take you out of it.

ST: Originally, when this movie was announced and we learned that the title was simply ‘The Suicide Squad,’ I thought to myself, “this is the stupidest name for a movie probably ever. If your first movie is ‘Suicide Squad,’ you can’t just put a “The” in front of it for your new one.” I really thought that people wouldn;t be able to differentiate and separate the two and when I look it up online, it's always going to come with the first one. But now because of the movie coming out soon and because so many people are talking about it, common audiences really have separated the two and they get what James is going for. Also, it’s not so obvious to me that James got the name off the comics, which is cool that he is keeping it so faithful to the comics that inspired him. What makes this title so interesting and awesome to me now is that it's essentially James Gunn saying “this is the team that I read about in my youth, that I loved growing up and that I love now. I want to show audiences what this team should be and is supposed to be. They are not doing jobs they want to do, they’re doing these suicide missions at a chance of getting their prison sentence shortened, and most all of them are going to die. This is the bloody, absolute batshit absurd comics that I read and that I love. This is “THE” definitive version of this team, and this is my vision of what they should be. Do you think it's the same way?

ER: I agree with you that he called it this because of those classic comics. Even now when I'm looking at the poster, everything in here seems more classic than any DC movie we have seen yet. Not just classic and golden-age like the comics, but classic war and action movies. I also think that when you put “the” in front of it, it brings another level of attention. I think now because of the way they've marketed it and talked about it, people know that this is something completely different. Also if James wants to make this into his own trilogy, it's good that he didn’t call it and make it a direct sequel to the first film. It's his own separate thing completely, so they had to give it a new title, not a number.

ST: Speaking of sequels, that leads into my next question: would you like to see a sequel to this movie, and if they did make a sequel what storyline would you want James to adapt? There aren’t that many I can personally think of from the comics, and James would probably create his own original story, but I would love to see him do a version of “The Suicide Squad Kills the Justice League.” Is that something you would want to see?

ER: Yes to a sequel and yes to them fighting the Justice League, but only if its something that James wants to do. I don’t want the studio or box office to force or influence what he does next. If he did make a one where they go up against the Justice League, I'd want James to bring in some bottom of the barrel Justice League members like how he did for this team. I don't want him to just have Superman, Batman, Aquaman,The Flash, and Wonder Woman. I would want him to use a bigger, more diversified and seasoned roster. Maybe depict a team that’s been around for a while and has members from all over the place. I would obviously want him to use Green Arrow, and I think James would have a lot of fun with Plastic Man. Also he could use Hawkman and Hawkgirl. I would love to see him bring Cyborg back because I think everyone loves Cyborg and I don't think you could do the Justice League without him.

ST: There's a character that I absolutely love called Vixen, and she has this magical african Totem which lets her summon the power of any animal in the animal kingdom. If she went up against some animal characters like Killer Croc and King Shark, James could make that really cool. I would wanna see Green Arrow for sure, basically everyone you mentioned. The cool thing about the future of DC is that Warner Bros might partially reboot the DC universe with ‘The Flash,’ where they keep some characters and actors and movies in continuity, but they completely ignore some of the others. So if they do make a reboot, James could literally have a completely new version of the team with totally new actors and heroes that he chooses. The sky really is the limit for whatever he wants to do next.

ST: Speaking of endless possibilities for stories and characters, are there any other spin offs that you would like him to do? WB have said that almost every single DC movie that comes out will have a spin-off series on HBO Max. We already know that ‘The Batman’ will have the ‘Gotham P.D.’ show coming out after that movie, and we know that ‘The Suicide Squad’ has the first season of ‘Peacemaker’ coming out in January of 2022. Obviously we are both excited for that because we love John Cena and the Peacemaker character looks like he will be a lot of fun, but are there any other characters from the movie that you hope get a spin-off series?

ER: If James Gunn doesn’t make a sequel, I hope he takes another fan favorite character and creates an essential but fun side-story for them. Of course it would have to be his choice and he would have to be passionate about this character, but I hope James considers making a Rick Flag series. I think it would be cool to explore just your everyday soldier in the DC universe, and tell a story with a guy who has no special skills or powers or weapons. We can maybe dive deep into what it's like to be a human in a superpowered world and how that has changed the military and somebody’s morals. I also want to see more of his origins because he’s a really badass character if you do it right.

ST: I agree, he is a character that would really benefit from some extra screen time and backstory. I also think that if DC wants to change it up a bit, they can do an anthology type of series. There are two ideas I’m thinking of, where each episode centers on an individual character from the roster and explores their origin and motivation, or it's like a comic book where each episode can be like a single issue or chapter and be a bunch of different missions. That way you can keep rotating the roster but you don’t need to have one team for a whole movie, there can be new characters every episode and you are always wondering who will make it to the next episode and who won't.

ER: I would also be interested to see James’ take on an HBO Max series about Savant. Obviously James Gunn and Michael Rooker are close and lifelong friends, so they would both be eager to do it.

ST: Right, not to mention he's an older guy. He’s probably the oldest villain on the entire team, which means he probably has such a history of being in the DC Universe and fighting heroes and being a real, substantial villain. He's also a Batman villain so they could bring the story into Gotham, so I think that'd be really interesting.

I totally agree: a Rick Flag and/or a Savant series would be awesome. I would also like to see James handle the next Harley Quinn movie, because yes, while I really enjoyed ‘Birds of Prey,’ if it were up to me, and if I was deciding what to do with the character next, I would give her a bigger and grander story with bigger stakes, better characters, and a bigger budget. Maybe include some more iconic characters like Poison Ivy and Catwoman that she could team up with, and since James is such a big Harley Quinn superfan, I not only think he would want to do it, but he totally could pull it off too.

ST: Now for the mother of all questions: who do you think will die, and who will make it out alive? As for our own individual” Dead Pools”—a large list of who doesn’t make it out alive—I think it will largely consist of Team A as I call them, the first wave of the Suicide Squad team that lands on the beach. That team consists of Harley Quinn, Rick Flag, Captain Boomerang, Javelin, Savant, Blackguard, T.D.K., Weasel, and Mongal. I think everybody on that team is going to die in a massacre on the beach except for Harley Quinn and Rick Flag. Javelin especially since we see Harley wielding his weapon for the latter parts of the movie. Maybe one person might survive and they escape and then we just never see them again for the rest of the movie, but I think that will be James showing the audience that the stakes are high and that literally anyone on the team could bite the bullet.

ER: I agree. I hope that T.D.K. doesn’t die because I love Nathan FIllion, but I think that team is expendable and almost none of them are going to make it off that beach.

ER: As for the main characters and the core team, I think that Bloodsport is going to die. At first I thought it would be Ratcatcher II because there's a shot in the trailer where she's clearly crying as she looks off into the distance, and I couldn’t tell if that was a sacrificial moment or not. But the more I think about it, I think Bloodsport is going to sacrifice himself and in the process save her, and that’s what she is crying about. Maybe she has to help him sacrifice himself to take down Starro. I think that could be the case because they have that whole exchange on the bus where Bloodsport says, “I'm gonna get you out of here alive,” and she’s like “I’m going to get you out of here alive.” There's also the whole aspect of a deeper loss because he has a daughter back home that he'll never see again, so I think Bloodsport will die and he will probably sacrifice himself for the team and for Ratcatcher II.

ST: Very true, I think that could definitely be the case. I could also maybe see Polka-Dot Man dying in that instance. In that scene where Ratcatcher II is crying and she’s leading that massive swarm of rats, it could be that she’s watching Polka-Dot Man blow himself up, wounding Starro, and then she leads all the rats to go inside Starro and eat him alive from the inside out or something like that. Or it could be Bloodsport doing the bomb, but I definitely think you're right about how it’s Ratcatcher II aiding somebody and winning the day, but at the sacrifice of her teammate. I definitely think that one of those two—Polka-Dot Man or Bloodsport—will be the big climactic death and sacrifice of the movie.

ER: As for the main team, Team B as you call them—which consists of Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Ratcatcher II, King Shark, Polka-Dot Man, and eventually Harley Quinn, Rick Flag, Sol Soria, and The Thinker—I think Polka-Dot Man could be one to die as a casualty of battle, not as a sacrifice. There's that one scene in the trailer when he finally seems happy and content and ready to face battle, and he’s shouting “I’m a superhero!,” and I think by that point he has completed his character arc then they're done with him.

ST: Yeah, I think he can have the most fulfilling arc where he starts out as a tragic character since he is an experiment gone wrong and he is in constant pain and had to turn to a life of crime. It seems that he has always been a loner and he definitely got bullied as a kid and he has suffered some loss. Now by being a part of this team and doing some good, he realizes that people care for him and people like Ratcatcher II consider him a friend. Maybe through that acceptance of himself and by gaining that confidence, he uses this gift and ability that have always been a hindrance on him towards something good. Now he can die happy, and if he is the one who sacrifices himself, that would hit me right in the feels, but it would be even more tragic if he dies a sudden death right after he finds his purpose and becomes content with the life he has.

ER: Sadly I think he will die a sudden death, where something horrible goes wrong like an explosion or a building falls on him, where the camera is just going through the damage and you see his dead body. He may be a casualty of war while Bloodsport is the sacrifice.

ER: As for others on that team, I don't think they're gonna kill Sol Soria.

ST: I agree. I think she could be part of a side-story with the revolution and toppling of the government of Corto Maltese—the fictional country that the Squad’s mission is on—but I think she is more of an ally that gets the Squad to where they need to be, and there really isn’t a point in her dying.

ER: She is the type of character in a big movie that's not big enough to definitely stay alive, but not too small of a character to the point where they definitely kill that person off, because it wouldn't really mean anything, and that’s not really James's style. Like in the last one with Slipknot, he was too small of a character but they killed him off and nobody cared at all. That's not really James's style. I think he'll make us care about her—and every character in the movie—but at this point I don’t know enough about her and I haven’t seen enough of her to know if she lives or dies or not.

ST: Yeah, she's not a joke death and she's (so far at least) not an emotional death, so we will have to wait and see if she could die or not. I can't really tell… she's one of those few characters for me that are right in the middle ground between living and dying and they could go either way. For me it’s Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Rick Flag, Sol Soria, and The Thinker. Those four I can’t tell, while as I said before, almost everyone from Team A will die, while I think Polka-Dot Man is a guaranteed death, and I don’t see Harley Quinn, King Shark, or Ratcatcher II dying. Those three I’m sure will make it out alive.

ER: For sure. Harley Quinn is too big and fan favorite of a character to kill off, and she's not really a sacrificial type. James doesn’t kill for shock value, and that to me is the only thing he would get out of having her character killed off. King Shark is also too big of a fan favorite and too popular of a character to not use for future movies, and Ratcatcher II is the heart and soul of this movie, so I think she will make it out alive.