Disney may have fired James Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 over a bunch of distasteful but decade-old tweets. But it seems like the filmmaker would be making a comeback with Warner Bros.' Suicide Squad 2.
Multiple Hollywood trades are now linking Gunn's name with the second outing of the DC's Worst Heroes Ever. Some of these trades, including TheWrap, are suggesting that he is in talks to write the sequel. But there are other ones, like Deadline, that are reporting that the deal has already been sealed.
However, all seem to agree that the directorial gig is not being negotiated between the filmmaker and the studio at the moment. Apparently, whether Gunn eventually takes the helm of Suicide Squad 2 or not depends entirely on the outcome of the scripting process.
Of course, Gunn's involvement in the project is surprising because we actually never heard about Gavin O'Connor dropping out of it. Even a month ago, Todd Stashwick, who was working on the script with O'Connor and David Bar Katz, revealed that they had finished their draft and he was really proud of it. So, what was wrong with that script?
Gavin O’Connor has reportedly left Suicide Squad 2 to reteam with Ben Affleck on The Has-Been! (Photo Credit – Warner Bros.)
According to Variety's Justin Kroll, the story sculpted by O'Connor and his co-writers bore striking resemblance with the one for Cathy Yan's Birds of Prey. The studio's decision to give the go-ahead to the female-driven superhero movie didn't sit well with O'Connor, leading him to divert his attention towards Brad Ingelsby-scripted, Ben Affleck-starrer drama The Has-Been. Check out Kroll's tweet below!
On the Gavin O’Connor front in relation to SS2, hearing the story he had for the sequel ended up almost being identical to the BIRDS OF PREY story and when that film was given the go ahead to go before SQUAD 2, O’Connor grew frustrated and fell off project to do HAS BEEN instead
"” Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) October 9, 2018
There are also some doubts about whether the events of James Gunn's Suicide Squad 2 take place in the DC Extended Universe. The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit claims to have learned that the project isn't going to be a sequel. But he cannot confirm whether that means a total recasting is in the cards. TheWrap's report seems to fall in line as it suggests that the filmmaker will have a completely new take on the property. Here's Kit's tweet for you!
Being told that Gunn’s SUICIDE SQUAD will not be a sequel, he will have a whole new take on it. But whether that means a total recasting or not is unclear.
"” Borys Kit (@Borys_Kit) October 9, 2018
