A little over four months after it began, principal photography onThe Suicide Squadis complete. This according to the film’s writer and directorJames Gunn, who took to Instagram to announce that production has now wrapped on the highly anticipated DC film—although his note is more heartbreaking than you might imagine.
Gunn shares in the message that his father died two weeks before filming began, and his dog Wesley Von Spears passed away two weeks before filming ended. Directing a massive DC Comics adaptation with a sprawling cast is hard enough in and of itself without also grieving through pretty much the entire process. But Gunn has nothing but gratitude for his cast and crew for what he calls “the most fulfilling time I’ve ever had making a movie.”
Gunn was given free reign to come in and write and direct a film adaptation of basically any DC property he wanted shortly after he was (briefly) removed fromGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Disney overreacted when some old, offensive tweets of Gunn’s were resurfaced in bad faith, and while Gunn eventually signed back on to write and direct the thirdGuardiansmovie, in that interim he agreed to first make a newSuicide Squadmovie for Warner Bros. and DC.
The Suicide Squadisn’t a total reboot ofDavid Ayer’s 2016 film, but we can rest assured that it is Gunn’s full vision. Returning from that cast areMargot Robbieas Harley Quinn,Joel Kinnamanas Rick Flag,Jai Courtneyas Captain Boomerang, andViola Davisas Amanda Waller, but new additions includeIdris Elba,John Cena,Nathan Fillion,David Dastmalchian,Peter Capaldi,Alice Braga,Sean Gunn,Michael Rooker,Taika Waititi, and many more.
We don’t know who these actors are playing, nor do we know the plot of the film, but Gunn has said that Harley Quinn plays a “major” role and it’ll be interesting to see if he returns to his R-rated roots withThe Suicide Squador if the film will be closer in tone to theGuardiansmovies.
Regardless, I can’t wait to see it, and I can’t fathom how hard this must have been for Gunn given the deaths that bookended the production. And kudos to Warner Bros. for allowing Gunn toshut down productionof the film recently so he could fly home and be with his dog for Wesley’s final hours.
Check out his Instagram message below, followed by photo of a wrap gift with touching significance. For a full list of upcoming DC movies,click here.
