If James Gunn does end up directing “Suicide Squad 2,” he’ll have a ringing endorsement from someone who knows a thing or two about it: David Ayers, director of the original.
Earlier Tuesday, TheWrap reported exclusively that Gunn is in talks to write and possibly direct the sequel to the 2016 DC supervillain movie that starred Will Smith, Jared Leto and Margot Robbie.
“I think it’s an incredibly brave and smart move by the studio,” David Ayer tweeted soon after. “James is the right man for the job!”
I think it’s an incredibly brave and smart move by the studio. James is the right man for the job! https://t.co/KaVD3dQosR
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) October 9, 2018
As reported by TheWrap in 2016, Ayer had a difficult relationship with Warner Bros., which ultimately kiboshed his original cut of “Suicide Squad” in favor of one with a lighter tone similar, as it happens, to Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” So it is that many of Ayer’s Twitter followers asked if the endorsement is a joke. However, Ayer was quick to make it clear he isn’t kidding.
This exactly this. https://t.co/AhKVcNNnLY
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) October 9, 2018
If Gunn takes the job, it’ll be his first high profile gig since July, when Disney fired him from Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise after far-right media personality Mark Cernovich and his followers publicized offensive tweets and writings from nearly a decade earlier. Those comments had previously come to light in 2012, just after Gunn was hired to direct the first “Guardians” film, and Gunn apologized for them at the time. He apologized again after he was fired, and said he accepted Disney’s decision.
Ayer is attached to write and direct the sequel to his panned Netflix film “Bright,” starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton, a fantasy set in a gritty Los Angeles that he followed up “Suicide Squad” with. Max Landis wrote the original film. He was also previously attached to direct a remake of “Scarface,” but was removed from the project.