Although The Suicide Squad director James Gunn is returning to Marvel to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, DC Films president Walter Hamada has said that Gunn will be back for more DC projects.
Hamada confirmed the news to THR, saying that Gunn is always welcome back to DC.
“Gunn is always welcome back, whatever he wants to do. He really has a vision and he’s a great partner with us. Whenever he wants to come back, we’re ready for him,” said Hamada, who added, “He’ll be back. We have more stuff planned.”
We already know that Gunn is writing and directing several episodes of The Suicide Squad spin-off Peacemaker, which is set to star John Cena, but it appears there may be bigger plans for Gunn and DC in the future.
“This is what happens when you leave a brilliant man alone with his thoughts,” said Cena — dressed in full costume — of Gunn’s scripts. “I didn’t even hear what it was [before saying yes], and when I heard it was Peacemaker, I was extra excited.”
The cast of The Suicide Squad share Cena's sentiments, as Harley Quinn actress Margot Robbie echoed his thoughts during the film's premiere in Westwood.
“If I read the script and didn’t know James Gunn was going to direct it, it would have been a straight-up ‘no,'” Robbie said. “I was like, ‘No one could pull this off.’ It’s so specific in its brand of comedy and violence. But it came out of his imagination. He knew exactly what to do with it.”
One of the main reasons DC is ready to welcome Gunn back is that The Suicide Squad, as noted by producer Charles Roven, came "in under budget and had no days of additional photography – a rarity in blockbuster filmmaking."
Gunn is also known for writing roles for his frequent collaborators, and Michael Rooker, who plays Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy and Savant in The Suicide Squad, says this may be his secret weapon.
"He usually says he wrote it for me — and that’s his ploy,” Rooker says with a laugh. “That’s the way he gets me to want to do it for less money. It works.”
Gunn is also very thankful to those who make these films happen. At the screening, Gunn spoke for 10 minutes and thanked many of his collaborators by name, and even asked them to stand to be recognized when he called on them. To end his speech, he thanked Suicide Squad comic creator John Ostrander, the one man who made this all possible.
"This movie could exist without any of us here. There is one person it wouldn’t exist without … That is John Ostrander," Gunn said.
These talks between Gunn and DC stem from the director's firing by Disney back in 2018 after controversial tweets resurfaced. He was fired as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but was ultimately re-hired after a public apology, the handling of the situation, and the support from many around the world.
This also helped lead to Gunn directing The Suicide Squad, which has been met with a mostly positive reception. In our The Suicide Squad review, we said that "James Gunn absolutely kills it with The Suicide Squad. The film is a bloody, chaotic ride from start to finish that finally does justice to Task Force X. It’s endlessly shocking and funny, and its showcase of F-list DC villains is nothing short of brilliant."
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.