James Gunn Reveals the One Limit He Had When Picking Characters for The Suicide Squad

James Gunn is knee-deep in bringing The Suicide Squad to life right now as filming has already started. The director isn’t too busy to answer some fan questions on his Instagram Stories though. People continue to flood his inbox with questions about the creative processes at both DC and Marvel, and he’s been very forthcoming with his answers. One question that Gunn decided to take time out of his busy schedule and answer today was centered around the number of characters he could use in the new film. He had two queries about those issues and used one to make a humorous note about the roster for the film. The other response shows just how much trust the studio has in the director to really hit this one out of the park.

So, as is the case over with Marvel Studios as well, there are usually limits to what characters can show up in big ensemble pieces like The Suicide Squad. Warner Bros. has a lot of properties coming up that will be using a wide variety of characters. There’s a new Batman that is actively casting actors, Birds of Prey will be using some figures from DC Comics as well, along with Wonder Woman’s next outing. Creators have to watch their step a little bit so they don’t step on anybody’s toes in the early going. But, apparently, that’s not the case for Gunn on this project. The entities in charge gave him the go-ahead to do whatever within reason, and that should have fans excited.

When asked about the character limit, Gunn responded, “Nope. (Well, I mean no Marvel Characters [sic].) That wouldn’t be the only time he covered the topic as he responded to another fan asking, “There was no one I was told I couldn’t include.”

Those statements seem to be pretty cut and dry as DC is giving him all the bandwidth necessary to make this film a hit. Now, there’s no way to tell what will be coming in this film. Even though fans have already been treated to an early look at some of the actors in their costumes as Just Jared posted some of the set photos online last week. Still, that was less than half the cast and there have been no confirmations on who will be playing which roles in this version of the team. One thing is for sure, this doesn’t seem to be Suicide Squad 2, and all that freedom looks like it will be put to good use.

The Suicide Squad premieres in theaters on August 6, 2021.