After The Suicide Squad, Does James Gunn Have His Eye On More DC Projects?

The team of David Ayer's Suicide Squad

The DC live-action had a rocky start, but Warner Bros. seems to have found its footing over the past few years. But there were plenty of early movies that failed to do well critically, including Justice League and David Ayer's Suicide Squad. The latter movie will get a pseudo sequel with James Gunn's The Suicide Squad featuring a handful of returning characters. Gunn loved the titular team, revealing he had the choice of a variety of DC projects when making his deal with the studio. In fact, it looks like he still might have his eye on another property within the shared universe.

James Gunn became a household name through his work on Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, before he was briefly fired by Marvel for offensive tweets from a decade ago. During the time before being reinstated, Gunn pivoted to the DC side of things to make a deal directing The Suicide Squad. Gunn was able to pick any DC franchise he wanted before choosing his mysterious villain movie, and was recently asked what his second choice would have been. The filmmaker responded coyly, saying:

I had two. Maybe you'll find out some day (but not today).

Well, this is delightfully cryptic. It looks like James Gunn is keeping his alternate DC plans quiet, although he does admit that they might be revealed some day. Does that mean he could sign on to direct another DC blockbuster after The Suicide Squad?

James Gunn's comments about DC come from his personal Instagram, which he regularly uses to directly communicate with movie fans. Gunn has done a series of Instagram Story Q&A sessions throughout filming The Suicide Squad-- breaking the internet in the process. Plenty of exciting updates about Gunn's upcoming DC and Marvel blockbusters have been dispensed through the gram, including the above quote.

After reading James Gunn's mysterious comments about other DC properties, I have to wonder exactly how we might "find out some day" about his alternate plans. One option is that the filmmaker would just come out with the details one day, perhaps on social media. But perhaps the more exciting idea is that Gunn might return to the DCEU following the release of The Suicide Squad.

The Suicide Squad has nearly wrapped filming, which should free James Gunn up to complete his Guardians of the Galaxy franchise at Marvel. His tenure with the MCU has the potential to reach its end with Vol. 3, which could free him up for a DC return. We'll have to see how The Suicide Squad performs at the box office, but Gunn previously stated that he's had the most fun of his career on the highly anticipated DC movie.

James Gunn's DC debut is expected to arrive in theaters when The Suicide Squad is released August 6th, 2021. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.