David Ayer Describes Suicide Squad As Dirty Dozen With Supervillains

Warner Bros.’ upcoming Suicide Squad film may not find its inspiration in comic books, but in an entirely different medium.

Speaking with Empire Magazine, Suicide Squad director David Ayer likened his upcoming DC Comics adaptation to another film, The Dirty Dozen. 

“I can say that it’s a Dirty Dozen with supervillains,” he told the magazine. “Then I can ask the question, ‘Does a movie really need good guys?’”

The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 film about a United States Army major who must train and lead 12 convicts in the assassination of a German military officer during World War II. The premise falls closely in rank with DC’s Suicide Squad, a black ops force of the DC Universe’s deadliest supervillains that tasked with missions deemed too deadly or dark for normal operatives. In exchange for their services to the Squad, the villains receive reduced prison sentences. 

Rumors broke last week that Will Smith, Tom Hardy, Ryan Gosling, and Margot Robbie were up for roles within the Squad, but Ayer is remaining mum on casting choices for the moment. When Empire asked the director how he would cast Suicide Squad stalwart Captain Boomerang, he only offered this:

“Like one would cast any other role. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m going to do what I do in my typical fever dream of directing.”

Suicide Squad is slated for a 2016 release, sometime after Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.