Originally published October 29, 2020. Updated October 28, 2020.
Warner Bros. and DC Films’ Suicide Squad franchise has been in the headlines often as of late, what with James Gunn now deep in post-production on next year’s The Suicide Squad, and David Ayer frequently commenting about his original cut of the first movie on social media as some fans look to mount a #ReleaseTheAyerCut campaign.
So far, Gunn has remained pretty silent when it comes to discussing his predecessor’s film, but during an interview with Empire the filmmaker has now praised Ayer for one particular aspect of the 2016 film – his casting choices.
“Listen, David Ayer’s gotten trouble for the movie,” said Gunn. “I know it didn’t come out how David wanted it to come out. But he did one really, really great thing, and that is he picked fantastic actors to work with, and he dealt with these actors in building their characters in a really deep and fearless way. It’s something David definitely deserves to be lauded for, and it’s definitely added to this movie.”
SEE ALSO: David Ayer says his cut of Suicide Squad “is f*cking amazing”
Although Gunn’s film was initially described as “a total reboot” of Ayer’s movie, he has retained the services of several original cast members in Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag) and Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), while Jai Courtney has previously confirmed that the second film won’t abandon what the first established in terms of character.
The Suicide Squad sees James Gunn directing a cast that includes Suicide Squad returnees Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag) and Viola Davis (Amanda Waller) as well as new DCEU additions Idris Elba, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Nathan Fillion, Taika Waititi, Jennifer Holland, David Dastmalchian, Joaquín Cosío, Mayling Ng, Flula Borg, Juan Diego Botto, Storm Reid, John Cena, Pete Davidson, Tinashe Kajese, Daniela Melchior, Julio Ruiz, Steve Agee, Michael Rooker, and Sean Gunn.
