The best soap opera of 2018 never aired on TV. It didn’t star any daytime actors or actresses, and you can’t DVR it. No, the soap opera that caught the attention of many film and TV fans this year happened in real life, and we just got our uber-melodramatic twist ending.
As you probably have heard by now, news broke that James Gunn, the man behind Marvel Studios’ incredibly popular (and lucrative) “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, was very publicly fired and has now defected to the “other side.” And if you’re familiar with comic books, you recognize that Marvel’s real rival is known as the “Distinguished Competition.” That’s right, the filmmaker is now a WB/DC guy and will oversee the upcoming “Suicide Squad 2.” But don’t let the working title fool you, this ain’t your daddy’s ‘Skwad.’
READ MORE: Sean Gunn Reveals That Marvel Studios Plans On Using James Gunn’s ‘Guardians 3’ Script
In their report on the Gunn news, THR says that the upcoming “Suicide Squad” film that the writer-director is currently scripting is not a direct sequel to David Ayer’s godawful 2016 release. Instead, Gunn is given a clean slate for his new film, which is said to be “a brand new take on the DC property.” The report also mentions that characters Deadshot (played by Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and Joker (Jared Leto) could be featured.
As for the latter character, that’s an interesting tidbit, to say the least. The character was famously added to the original “Suicide Squad” film, but his involvement was kept under wraps. Then, upon release, fans realized that Leto’s character was barely in the film, and nothing more than a glorified cameo. Perhaps Gunn has a strong take on the character? We shall see.
Another interesting thing to consider is Dave Bautista. The actor has famously defended Gunn on numerous occasions, even publicly calling out Disney for the decision to fire the filmmaker. Does this signal a move to the DC universe for the Drax the Destroyer actor? It’s worth keeping an eye on, that’s for sure.
What we do know for certain is filmmaker Gavin O’Connor is out. The director was attached last year to co-write and direct ‘Suicide Squad 2,’ but now seems to be relieved of his duties. In our earlier story, we mentioned how reports failed to include him and we weren’t sure what was next for the “Warrior” filmmaker.
Well, multiple reports say that O’Connor has decided to move off of “Suicide Squad 2” and his departure has nothing to do with Gunn. Justin Kroll (of Variety) tweeted, “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.”
READ MORE: Ben Affleck and ‘The Accountant’ Director Gavin O’Connor Reteam on ‘The Has-Been’
We’ve already discussed “Has Been” before, which sees O’Connor reteam with Ben Affleck to star. The film is said to be about a former basketball all-star that sees his family fall apart in a struggle with addiction. The film is now said to be called “Torrance,” but no other details have been released. However, it looks like the director is making this his new priority.
Even though it doesn’t seem like the drama between Gunn/Disney/Warner Bros. could get any more interesting, who knows? Maybe this soap opera is at a season finale and there’s plenty more melodrama to come.
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