James Gunn calls The Suicide Squad a 'war-caper movie with s---ty supervillains'

You know how some people have difficulty summing up their movies? James Gunn is not one of them. "It's a war-caper movie with s---ty supervillains," says the Guardians of the Galaxy director succinctly of his latest comic-book adaptation, The Suicide Squad (in theaters and on HBO Max Aug. 6).

This new take on the heels of David Ayer's maligned but profitable 2016 movie Suicide Squad launches a separate story line — but once again stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, and Joel Kinnaman as Col. Rick Flag, who attempts to keep our jailbird antiheroes in line. Viola Davis also reprises her role of Squad mastermind Amanda Waller, who this time around sends Quinn & Co. on a mission to the fictional Latin American country of Corto Maltese. "Corto Maltese has alien materials they're trying to weaponize to use against the United States and the rest of the world," says producer Peter Safran. "The Suicide Squad are told to go [there] and destroy Jotunheim, which is this giant fortress." Robbie, no stranger to big-budget movies, was in awe of the Atlanta sets. "The first set we shot on was this beach," says the Birds of Prey star. "It was so amazing. Palm trees. An ocean with a wave machine in it. Pyrotechnics. Special effects. Explosions everywhere. It was like being in a proper, crazy war movie."

The Squad's many new members include Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), Weasel (Sean Gunn), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Blackguard (Pete Davidson), Savant (Michael Rooker), and Bloodsport (Idris Elba), who originally appeared in the Superman comic as a gun-toting enemy of the titular hero. "He's a real reluctant member of the Squad," says Elba. "He's a bit grumpy. He's not the warmest guy. Yeah, just playing myself, really." John Cena is Peacemaker, who is obsessed with keeping things conflict-free no matter how much mayhem ensues. "He has this moral code that seems skewed by the amount of violence he inflicts," says Safran of Cena's character, who has already been gifted his own HBO Max spin-off show. "It's like f---ing for virginity — he's fighting for peace."

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