Gunn reportedly heading back to the 80s for Suicide Squad inspiration

It seems that James Gunn wants to dig back a ways for his Suicide Squad inspiration. While the 2016 film pulled from the New 52 version of the team that added Harley Quinn in 2011, Gunn wants to head back to the John Ostrander and Kim Yale’s 1980s run to pull from.

According to a recent report from The Hollywood Reporter, Gunn wants to head back to the Ostrander and Yale days where things were a bit more dangerous. Most notably, this was before Deadshot - rumored to be played by Idris Elba - had his daughter Zoe added to his backstory. The 1980s version of the character was someone who enjoyed his job as a hired gun and came from an abusive background. He was also someone who did not have compassion for other people and was far more cold-blooded - as well as suicidal - than the New 52 iteration.

If this is indeed where Gunn is pulling his inspiration from, it could be a very different Deadshot we see on screen with this film.

This also brings up some interesting questions about the possible inclusion of Harley Quinn this time around. Rumors have fluctuated about whether or not she will appear in the film. The most recent ones have indicated she would, but as she comes from a different iteration of the team, can he make it gel? The simple answer is, probably.

While Gunn may be looking to the Ostander/Yale days, his team is already showing to be more something of his own making. The most recent rumors of who will make up the team roster includes only two characters - Deadshot and King Shark - that have ever been in comic versions of the team. If he chooses to include Harley, that is well within his parameters.

Of course, none of this is real until it's officially announced, but it does sound like we're in for a very different ride this time around.

Fun Jug Media, LLC (operating Batman-News.com) has affiliate partnerships with various companies. These do not at any time have any influence on the editorial content of Batman News. Fun Jug Media LLC may earn a commission from these links.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter

52 comments

Bruce Vader

March 11, 2019

I know it's off topic, but I finally found this puppy in a cloud drive.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c...

BatmanNewsChris
March 11, 2019
Banned.
1. Bruce Vader
  March 11, 2019
  :) I just couldn't wait for an Aquaman article to gloat.
  1. BatmanNewsChris
    March 11, 2019
    I’m not even sure who that is. I’m “ChrisLikesBatman” ;)
    1. Sean P. Aune
      March 11, 2019
      ... and how do you generally prepare your crow, Chris? Are you more of a slow cooker guy, or do you roast?
    2. Bruce Vader
      March 11, 2019
      This is the article. :D
      https://batman-news.com/201...
2. mr nobody
  March 11, 2019
  Damn lol. BvS could've easily made a billion had it been good though. I'm surprised about Aquaman too though.
3. HyperMolecular
  March 11, 2019
  PWNED.
Sean P. Aune
March 11, 2019
You... have made my day lol
thefallen83
March 11, 2019
Deaded.
myzterius
March 11, 2019
I see you with the illegal downloading. Reported.
1. NinjaGamer13
  March 11, 2019
  Might be legal depending on the country. It's legal in your country.
  1. myzterius
    March 12, 2019
    Its illegal everywhere, they just dont enforce it.
    1. NinjaGamer13
      March 12, 2019
      Not true. It's specifically decriminalized in Canada and other countries for home users/personal use. Mexico and The Netherlands also.
    2. myzterius
      March 12, 2019
      https://business.financialp...
    3. NinjaGamer13
      March 12, 2019
      Didn't know Canada has changed so much, but it's still not illegal everywhere. Mexico and The Netherlands still say hi.
Ravager
March 11, 2019
Gold.
IamTheOneWhoKnocks
March 11, 2019
Lol!!....nice.

lowdevil

March 11, 2019

As much as I don't have the taste for Gunn's 'sense of humour ' and have also called him out for being highly over-rated,
everyone deserves a second chance and this is also developing into a delight to say the least.
Now if only Harley were NOT part of this..

Sean P. Aune
March 11, 2019
Tough question. I haven't read them since they were originally published. I enjoyed the heck out of them, but couldn't remember no matter how had I tried what the contiunity issues would be.
ItzSilentStorm
March 11, 2019
why do u hate harley quinn?
1. Ravager
  March 11, 2019
  I know you're not asking me, I hate Harley because she's overtly obnoxious and a kind of parody of herself. I don't appreciate her flatulent humor either. She's a completely unoriginal character whose only purpose is to make fart jokes most of the time.
  1. BetterNinjaGamer13
    March 11, 2019
    Not to mention she is and remains a victim of domestic abuse. Weird to see her propped up as some sort of icon when she is purely a victim.
    1. Ravager
      March 11, 2019
      Exactly. It is really strange that she's being propped up as someone for young girls to look up to, despite dozens of better role models (WW, Hawkgirl, Black Canary, Batgirl etc.). It's like Deadpool, I don't understand what makes her entertaining. I don't found either character funny, and like you said, I don't think that the creators of HQ really intended for her to be an icon; rather, a sympathetic figure. Yet in the comics, they have done this awkward and really forced transition to Joker's-ex, without realizing that she completely falls apart without the Joker. Without him, she has no reason to be insane, and her whole gimmick makes no sense.
    2. ItzSilentStorm
      March 11, 2019
      well in the new 52 I think her cookyness comes from the fact that she also went into the chemicals that transformed the joker. And tbf, without the joker, she has been trying to better herself. But ya if you don't like Deadpool either then I can see why you wouldn't like HQ. The more modern renditions at least. That being said, I don't see her farting that much. And considering they seem to be taking her more in an R rated direction, I am not sure the intention is for her to be an icon for little girls. I think they just want her to be female Deadpool tbh but slightly less cartoonish and meta
    3. Ravager
      March 12, 2019
      What I meant was, out of all the characters to choose from, they picked Harley? I mostly agree with you though. I can enjoy characters who are funny, but I don't like "lolz so random" characters.
2. lowdevil
  March 11, 2019
  She works as an animated character only. Period.
  Nobody buys her comic books and her portrayal in SS was nauseating.. Many praise her in SS but its ONLY because of Robbies talent and ONLY because she was the lone woman member. .Many disagree with me, but we will all see when Robbies pet project BoP comes out wont we.
  1. Jua-nalf
    March 11, 2019
    "Nobody buys her comic books"
    Okay let's have a face off, I provided all the envidence and stats that her comic books are some of the best selling DC comics going back to 2017 to present day and you provide your evidence that hers are the worst selling in all of comics and the loser has to kiss the winners ass, deal?
    1. lowdevil
      March 11, 2019
      You are wrong. HQ started out as a top seller for first few months and now isnt in the top 50 in sales last time i checked.
    2. lowdevil
      March 11, 2019
      HQ as of Jan 2019 #88 and only 25k units.
      Im waiting for your rebuttal Sherlock Holmes.
    3. lowdevil
      March 11, 2019
      You gonna delete your post??
  2. ItzSilentStorm
    March 11, 2019
    why does she only work as an animated character? If I have learned anything over the least some odd years of comic book movies, its that most characters can probably work in live action if done right. You mentioned people liked HQ in SS because of Margot's talent. Doesn't that sort of contradict your theory that she only works in animated form? If her talent is what made people like her in the movie, then I think that means it worked. I know I personally liked her because I like Margot's performance. Thus, she worked for me. Most characters can work if they have the right talent behind them. I mean why can Deadpool work in live action but not Harley Quinn? Unless you don't like Deadpool either, which is fine. But either way, the truth is, this character is insanely popular. Do you have any idea how many people have likely been dying to see a live action iteration of Harley Quinn? If its not your cup of tea, that's fine. You don't have to like every single thing DC puts out or creates.
    1. lowdevil
      March 11, 2019
      No. I said she is known for her talent and is generally liked. That fact i think influenced her performance. Its like DeNiro still getting roles for whatever reason. Its the name association. Her performance as HQ was vomit inducing (for me). Ask yourself if you like Robbie or her performance as separate. If you like her as HQ then cool. I really like her too but i can separate.
    2. ItzSilentStorm
      March 11, 2019
      but I mean her talent is what lead to, what I think many would consider, a likable performance. Jared Leto is talented too but most people didn't care for his joker. Like I said, I liked her because her performance worked for me, and I wasn't even a huge HQ fan when the movie came out. But I believe this is a character that would have been super easy to mess up and I thought she did a really good job for the most part. I guess I can kind of see how some might find her annoying, but thats pretty subjective I would say. Thats just the character. And obviously the character is popular af. My issue was much less her performance and mannerisms and much more so with some aspects of her characterization(killing the truck driver. I never took Harley for one that would kill innocents tbh)
      That being said, in actuality I kind of don't want her to be in this movie either. But that is really just because I want as few ties to the original movie as possible. If Viola Davis wasn't so damn good as Waller I would want her recast as well
    3. lowdevil
      March 11, 2019
      Leto is the better actor in my opinion. Yet..his performance sucked (fully agree) while hers did not even though they both played the exact same character??
      Fact is she was the only female actor of the group next to Waller and the (barf) Witch. The later two had little screen time. She had influence over the audience for the wrong reason.Especially with todays (woman power) climate where a film like Oceans 8 can get a 70% when everyone knows that was a hard 30%.
      Her performance in the purple car sequence was memorable to you? To me that scene with both Leto and Robbie is in my top ten worst in cinema history.
    4. ItzSilentStorm
      March 11, 2019
      memorable? No not really. But I didn't think it was particularly bad(from Robbie at least). Worst in cinema history? Seems like an exaggeration imo. Idk. Did you like Aquaman? Aquaman wasn't really my cup of tea. A bit too wacky and goofy for me(and not in a good or tolerable way. Obviously most comic book stuff is wacky). Some people really liked it though. Some people around here thought Black Manta was fantastic but I thought his performance was very questionable. All this stuff can get pretty subjective and depends on your tastes.
    5. lowdevil
      March 11, 2019
      Did not particularly like Aquaman but wanted to.
      As far as SS it reminds me of an article from Rolling Stone where thay state how there was a great performance from Robbie hiding under the layers of foulness from the script. WTF is that supposed to mean exactly?
      Its just like when Ava DuVernay directed a wrinkle in time. The consensus was 'A horrible film yet, Ava is a true star that did her best and should be celebrated'. WTF is that shit? Shes the director, the film was the worst of the year and she is a horrible director for it. Josh Trank took it from everyone and so should she. But they cant do that. Not today.
    6. ItzSilentStorm
      March 12, 2019
      it means they did the best they could with what they had I would assume. It means despite a poor script, Robbie managed to hold the thing together by giving a likable performance. Happens all the time tbh. Movie is bad but that one actor was really good in it. That kind of thing.
      I think it is generally thought that Wrinkle in Time wasn't entirely Duvernay's fault as it wasn't really her movie so much as it was Disney's and she was just a sort of hired gun tapped to direct. I believe she didn't write the script at least.
  3. Bruce Vader
    March 12, 2019
    Her book is very succesful, despite the poor quality, so I don't know who all those nobodies that don't buy her comic books are. When I say succesful I don't mean Batman level succesful, I mean it does better than most. My point is that people eat her up no matter the situation.

Kaingerc

March 11, 2019

You know, I never actually read Ostrander's 'Suicide Squad', does anyone know if it's worth reading? (or does it feel dated by now or has too many references to other DC books that are way out of continuity by now)

I only read SImone's 'Secret Six' (which was awesome) and the more modern Squad book (which was mostly mediocre to bad)

jack danielson

March 11, 2019

Imo, they should remove this completely from continuity of the dceu or the first film. Just like animated feature, assault on arkham, was based on the video game universe, and the animated feature, hell to pay, was based on new 52. I would prefer they reboot them as they said they were going to. I suspect that they are, considering the title.

ZaQueerdo

March 11, 2019

A more military style story is what the first movie should've been. I'm excited.

Polka-Dot Man

March 11, 2019

Polka-Dot Man or riot

NinjaGamer13
March 11, 2019
Lol

drisraelluna

March 11, 2019

I'm a little worried about the box office for this film... if it goes all violent and R rated, it won´t get a release in China, and these days that market is almost as important as the US. And if it gets toned down, there will surely be people complaining about it

StarTheory
March 11, 2019
Well not every release in China is guaranteed a success, plus the first one made over $700M without it. China also takes a super large percentage so I doubt that studios are going to hop on that bandwagon fast and if anything, they’ll release an alternative cut just for China. If they have a problem with that then they need to look at their disgusting government.
1. drisraelluna
  March 11, 2019
  Agreed... but even a $25M net profit is better than $0; and the average CBM makes around $100M there (I believe they keep around 75% of the revenue in China, but I'm not sure). Of those $300M Aquaman made there only a small percentage goes to WB's coffers... but they sure looked damn good at boxofficemojo! haha
2. Flower & Monster & Golden Calf
  March 11, 2019
  You can't release an alternate cut on a movie. It's law there. That's why Deadpool 2 made that lame Christmas release.
  1. StarTheory
    March 12, 2019
    Well then fuck China.

thefallen83

March 11, 2019

Awesome.

Ravager

March 11, 2019

I can appreciate that Gunn is shooting for characters that largely have not been featuring in the SS before, but some of the choices are...questionable...

Tim Campbell

March 11, 2019

Pretty sure Gunn is using obscure characters just so it's easier to kill them off. This is the Suicide Squad...gonna lose a few of the volunteers.

Bruce Vader
March 11, 2019
I know it's off topic, but I finally found this puppy in a cloud drive.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c...
1. BatmanNewsChris
  March 11, 2019
  Banned.
  1. Bruce Vader
    March 11, 2019
    :) I just couldn't wait for an Aquaman article to gloat.
    1. BatmanNewsChris
      March 11, 2019
      I’m not even sure who that is. I’m “ChrisLikesBatman” ;)
      1. Sean P. Aune
        March 11, 2019
        ... and how do you generally prepare your crow, Chris? Are you more of a slow cooker guy, or do you roast?
      2. Bruce Vader
        March 11, 2019
        This is the article. :D
        https://batman-news.com/201...
  2. mr nobody
    March 11, 2019
    Damn lol. BvS could've easily made a billion had it been good though. I'm surprised about Aquaman too though.
  3. HyperMolecular
    March 11, 2019
    PWNED.
2. Sean P. Aune
  March 11, 2019
  You... have made my day lol
3. thefallen83
  March 11, 2019
  Deaded.
4. myzterius
  March 11, 2019
  I see you with the illegal downloading. Reported.
  1. NinjaGamer13
    March 11, 2019
    Might be legal depending on the country. It's legal in your country.
    1. myzterius
      March 12, 2019
      Its illegal everywhere, they just dont enforce it.
      1. NinjaGamer13
        March 12, 2019
        Not true. It's specifically decriminalized in Canada and other countries for home users/personal use. Mexico and The Netherlands also.
      2. myzterius
        March 12, 2019
        https://business.financialp...
      3. NinjaGamer13
        March 12, 2019
        Didn't know Canada has changed so much, but it's still not illegal everywhere. Mexico and The Netherlands still say hi.
5. Ravager
  March 11, 2019
  Gold.
6. IamTheOneWhoKnocks
  March 11, 2019
  Lol!!....nice.
lowdevil
March 11, 2019
As much as I don't have the taste for Gunn's 'sense of humour ' and have also called him out for being highly over-rated,
everyone deserves a second chance and this is also developing into a delight to say the least.
Now if only Harley were NOT part of this..
1. Sean P. Aune
  March 11, 2019
  Tough question. I haven't read them since they were originally published. I enjoyed the heck out of them, but couldn't remember no matter how had I tried what the contiunity issues would be.
2. ItzSilentStorm
  March 11, 2019
  why do u hate harley quinn?
  1. Ravager
    March 11, 2019
    I know you're not asking me, I hate Harley because she's overtly obnoxious and a kind of parody of herself. I don't appreciate her flatulent humor either. She's a completely unoriginal character whose only purpose is to make fart jokes most of the time.
    1. BetterNinjaGamer13
      March 11, 2019
      Not to mention she is and remains a victim of domestic abuse. Weird to see her propped up as some sort of icon when she is purely a victim.
      1. Ravager
        March 11, 2019
        Exactly. It is really strange that she's being propped up as someone for young girls to look up to, despite dozens of better role models (WW, Hawkgirl, Black Canary, Batgirl etc.). It's like Deadpool, I don't understand what makes her entertaining. I don't found either character funny, and like you said, I don't think that the creators of HQ really intended for her to be an icon; rather, a sympathetic figure. Yet in the comics, they have done this awkward and really forced transition to Joker's-ex, without realizing that she completely falls apart without the Joker. Without him, she has no reason to be insane, and her whole gimmick makes no sense.
      2. ItzSilentStorm
        March 11, 2019
        well in the new 52 I think her cookyness comes from the fact that she also went into the chemicals that transformed the joker. And tbf, without the joker, she has been trying to better herself. But ya if you don't like Deadpool either then I can see why you wouldn't like HQ. The more modern renditions at least. That being said, I don't see her farting that much. And considering they seem to be taking her more in an R rated direction, I am not sure the intention is for her to be an icon for little girls. I think they just want her to be female Deadpool tbh but slightly less cartoonish and meta
      3. Ravager
        March 12, 2019
        What I meant was, out of all the characters to choose from, they picked Harley? I mostly agree with you though. I can enjoy characters who are funny, but I don't like "lolz so random" characters.
  2. lowdevil
    March 11, 2019
    She works as an animated character only. Period.
    Nobody buys her comic books and her portrayal in SS was nauseating.. Many praise her in SS but its ONLY because of Robbies talent and ONLY because she was the lone woman member. .Many disagree with me, but we will all see when Robbies pet project BoP comes out wont we.
    1. Jua-nalf
      March 11, 2019
      "Nobody buys her comic books"
      Okay let's have a face off, I provided all the envidence and stats that her comic books are some of the best selling DC comics going back to 2017 to present day and you provide your evidence that hers are the worst selling in all of comics and the loser has to kiss the winners ass, deal?
      1. lowdevil
        March 11, 2019
        You are wrong. HQ started out as a top seller for first few months and now isnt in the top 50 in sales last time i checked.
      2. lowdevil
        March 11, 2019
        HQ as of Jan 2019 #88 and only 25k units.
        Im waiting for your rebuttal Sherlock Holmes.
      3. lowdevil
        March 11, 2019
        You gonna delete your post??
    2. ItzSilentStorm
      March 11, 2019
      why does she only work as an animated character? If I have learned anything over the least some odd years of comic book movies, its that most characters can probably work in live action if done right. You mentioned people liked HQ in SS because of Margot's talent. Doesn't that sort of contradict your theory that she only works in animated form? If her talent is what made people like her in the movie, then I think that means it worked. I know I personally liked her because I like Margot's performance. Thus, she worked for me. Most characters can work if they have the right talent behind them. I mean why can Deadpool work in live action but not Harley Quinn? Unless you don't like Deadpool either, which is fine. But either way, the truth is, this character is insanely popular. Do you have any idea how many people have likely been dying to see a live action iteration of Harley Quinn? If its not your cup of tea, that's fine. You don't have to like every single thing DC puts out or creates.
      1. lowdevil
        March 11, 2019
        No. I said she is known for her talent and is generally liked. That fact i think influenced her performance. Its like DeNiro still getting roles for whatever reason. Its the name association. Her performance as HQ was vomit inducing (for me). Ask yourself if you like Robbie or her performance as separate. If you like her as HQ then cool. I really like her too but i can separate.
      2. ItzSilentStorm
        March 11, 2019
        but I mean her talent is what lead to, what I think many would consider, a likable performance. Jared Leto is talented too but most people didn't care for his joker. Like I said, I liked her because her performance worked for me, and I wasn't even a huge HQ fan when the movie came out. But I believe this is a character that would have been super easy to mess up and I thought she did a really good job for the most part. I guess I can kind of see how some might find her annoying, but thats pretty subjective I would say. Thats just the character. And obviously the character is popular af. My issue was much less her performance and mannerisms and much more so with some aspects of her characterization(killing the truck driver. I never took Harley for one that would kill innocents tbh)
        That being said, in actuality I kind of don't want her to be in this movie either. But that is really just because I want as few ties to the original movie as possible. If Viola Davis wasn't so damn good as Waller I would want her recast as well
      3. lowdevil
        March 11, 2019
        Leto is the better actor in my opinion. Yet..his performance sucked (fully agree) while hers did not even though they both played the exact same character??
        Fact is she was the only female actor of the group next to Waller and the (barf) Witch. The later two had little screen time. She had influence over the audience for the wrong reason.Especially with todays (woman power) climate where a film like Oceans 8 can get a 70% when everyone knows that was a hard 30%.
        Her performance in the purple car sequence was memorable to you? To me that scene with both Leto and Robbie is in my top ten worst in cinema history.
      4. ItzSilentStorm
        March 11, 2019
        memorable? No not really. But I didn't think it was particularly bad(from Robbie at least). Worst in cinema history? Seems like an exaggeration imo. Idk. Did you like Aquaman? Aquaman wasn't really my cup of tea. A bit too wacky and goofy for me(and not in a good or tolerable way. Obviously most comic book stuff is wacky). Some people really liked it though. Some people around here thought Black Manta was fantastic but I thought his performance was very questionable. All this stuff can get pretty subjective and depends on your tastes.
      5. lowdevil
        March 11, 2019
        Did not particularly like Aquaman but wanted to.
        As far as SS it reminds me of an article from Rolling Stone where thay state how there was a great performance from Robbie hiding under the layers of foulness from the script. WTF is that supposed to mean exactly?
        Its just like when Ava DuVernay directed a wrinkle in time. The consensus was 'A horrible film yet, Ava is a true star that did her best and should be celebrated'. WTF is that shit? Shes the director, the film was the worst of the year and she is a horrible director for it. Josh Trank took it from everyone and so should she. But they cant do that. Not today.
      6. ItzSilentStorm
        March 12, 2019
        it means they did the best they could with what they had I would assume. It means despite a poor script, Robbie managed to hold the thing together by giving a likable performance. Happens all the time tbh. Movie is bad but that one actor was really good in it. That kind of thing.
        I think it is generally thought that Wrinkle in Time wasn't entirely Duvernay's fault as it wasn't really her movie so much as it was Disney's and she was just a sort of hired gun tapped to direct. I believe she didn't write the script at least.
    3. Bruce Vader
      March 12, 2019
      Her book is very succesful, despite the poor quality, so I don't know who all those nobodies that don't buy her comic books are. When I say succesful I don't mean Batman level succesful, I mean it does better than most. My point is that people eat her up no matter the situation.
Kaingerc
March 11, 2019
You know, I never actually read Ostrander's 'Suicide Squad', does anyone know if it's worth reading? (or does it feel dated by now or has too many references to other DC books that are way out of continuity by now)
I only read SImone's 'Secret Six' (which was awesome) and the more modern Squad book (which was mostly mediocre to bad)
jack danielson
March 11, 2019
Imo, they should remove this completely from continuity of the dceu or the first film. Just like animated feature, assault on arkham, was based on the video game universe, and the animated feature, hell to pay, was based on new 52. I would prefer they reboot them as they said they were going to. I suspect that they are, considering the title.
ZaQueerdo
March 11, 2019
A more military style story is what the first movie should've been. I'm excited.
Polka-Dot Man
March 11, 2019
Polka-Dot Man or riot
1. NinjaGamer13
  March 11, 2019
  Lol
drisraelluna
March 11, 2019
I'm a little worried about the box office for this film... if it goes all violent and R rated, it won´t get a release in China, and these days that market is almost as important as the US. And if it gets toned down, there will surely be people complaining about it
1. StarTheory
  March 11, 2019
  Well not every release in China is guaranteed a success, plus the first one made over $700M without it. China also takes a super large percentage so I doubt that studios are going to hop on that bandwagon fast and if anything, they’ll release an alternative cut just for China. If they have a problem with that then they need to look at their disgusting government.
  1. drisraelluna
    March 11, 2019
    Agreed... but even a $25M net profit is better than $0; and the average CBM makes around $100M there (I believe they keep around 75% of the revenue in China, but I'm not sure). Of those $300M Aquaman made there only a small percentage goes to WB's coffers... but they sure looked damn good at boxofficemojo! haha
  2. Flower & Monster & Golden Calf
    March 11, 2019
    You can't release an alternate cut on a movie. It's law there. That's why Deadpool 2 made that lame Christmas release.
    1. StarTheory
      March 12, 2019
      Well then fuck China.
thefallen83
March 11, 2019
Awesome.
Ravager
March 11, 2019
I can appreciate that Gunn is shooting for characters that largely have not been featuring in the SS before, but some of the choices are...questionable...
Tim Campbell
March 11, 2019
Pretty sure Gunn is using obscure characters just so it's easier to kill them off. This is the Suicide Squad...gonna lose a few of the volunteers.

Batman News Archive

Gunn reportedly heading back to the 80s for Suicide Squad inspiration

52 comments

Browse By Topic

Browse By Year

Browse By Author