The Suicide Squad’s James Gunn Shares His Thoughts on DC’s New 52

As the various reboots and restarts that DC Comics has had over the years go, The New 52 is one that still evokes mixed reactions from fans. Intended to bring all of DC’s characters into the modern era with a fresh starting point, the execution worked well in some aspects and less so in others and while DC has since moved on from it, the era recently trended on social media as fans and creators looked back on The New 52 and now The Suicide Squad director James Gunn is weighing in with his thoughts. As it turns out, The New 52 is when Gunn fell in love with The Suicide Squad again, with him writing that he “literally bought every single issue” and loved them.

“New 52 is when I refell in love with The Suicide Squad – and when Harley Quinn joined,” Gunn wrote. “Because of that, Court of Owls, Animal Man, and much more I’ll always be fond of that era at DC Comics. Call me a sucker but I literally bought every single issue launched at that time and loved it.”

It’s unclear if or how The New 52 era of DC Comics will influence the upcoming The Suicide Squad film, but it’s certainly interesting to get his perspective on that era of comics. Gunn is a noted fan of comic books and even when it came to preparing to make The Suicide Squad, he went back and read all of the comics involving the characters he was writing for, which meant in some cases he was rereading some stories.

“I’ve read all the comics I can concerning the characters I’m writing,” Gunn wrote on Twitter in 2020. “For instance, I’ve read every single comic featuring every iteration of The Suicide Squad and probably 85% of everything Harley Quinn has ever been in up until the time of shooting.”

The Suicide Squad will see the return of Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Joel Kinnaman as Colonel Rick Flag, and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang from 2016’s Suicide Squad. Joining them in the film are David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Steve Agee as King Shark, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, Nathan Fillion as T.D.K., Pete Davidson as Blackguard, Flula Borg as Javelin, Mayling Ng as Mongal, Peter Capaldi as The Thinker, Michael Rooker as Savant, Alice Braga as Sol Soria, and Sean Gunn as Weasel.

The Suicide Squad is set to be released both in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6th.

Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images