James Gunn revealed the inspiration and reasoning behind some of The Suicide Squad's new additions to the Task Force X roster, including Bloodsport and Peacemaker. Part sequel, part reboot, Gunn was brought onboard to direct the follow-up to David Ayer's 2016 film, Suicide Squad. Although that film assembled a formidable group of DC villains to take on Enchantress, the film ultimately fell flat for many despite scoring big at the box office. Looking to breathe new life into the potentially huge property, DC hired Gunn after he was fired by Disney from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
The Suicide Squad's sequel roster is already looking be a much more formidable group of villains. A few are returning from the first film, including Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang, but Task Force X is filled with mostly fresh faces. Gunn went deep into DC lore to find some truly unique and out-there characters from Weasel to Polka Dot Man and King Shark. Why he chose these characters is somewhat of a mystery as the film still has yet to be released, but Gunn gave a peek into his thought process behind some of his choices in a new interview.
Speaking with Empire Magazine, Gunn revealed that he looked to bring together "disparate aesthetics" with the different characters to create a truly unique dynamic between the team members. This includes John Cena's Peacemaker, who Gunn cites as having a 1970s sort of framework compared to Idris Elba's Bloodsport and his "grimdark" modernity. The director also took time to poke fun at the look of Javelin and the too-cool-for-school vibe of Savant before landing on Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and simply saying, "Harley is Harley!"
I liked the idea of these disparate aesthetics, as if you’re bringing in each of these characters from a different movie or TV show. So Peacemaker is from a 1970s TV show; Bloodsport is more of a modern, scary, grimdark character; Ratcatcher 2 is from some Saw horror film; Javelin looks ridiculous; Savant is kind of cool, but also kind of Def Leppard in the wrong ways; and Harley is Harley! And they’re thrown together in this sort of natural, real world that we present with Corto Maltese, which is very grounded.
One of the key things for a movie like The Suicide Squad is the dynamic between its characters. While a pair like Rick Flag and Harley Quinn already have an established rapport, as shown by The Suicide Squad's trailers, others are more of a mystery. From early looks at the film, it's clear that Bloodsport is a more serious character, a stoic nature that will be contrasted against Peacemaker's more nonchalant attitude. It seems likely that more of these dynamics will be fleshed out in the film - right before many of these characters are unceremoniously killed.
Gunn has promised a high body count for The Suicide Squad and that's possible thanks to the sheer amount of characters he has brought on board. The first film's characters had a decent dynamic, but this was undermined by the lack of risk taking in the film. Fortunately, The Suicide Squad looks to be willing to take risks, from introducing a completely bonkers villain in Starro the Conqueror to the promises of its R-rated insanity.
Source: Empire Magazine
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