James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is shaping up very nicely. The Guardians of the Galaxy director is landing in the DCEU with a bang by assembling the finest ensemble cast for a superhero flick since Avengers: Endgame. Returning from Suicide Squad are Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davies, Jai Courtney and Margot Robbie, and we’re also getting some fresh faces in the form of John Cena, Idris Elba, Nathan Fillion, Peter Capaldi and many, many more.
Of course, given the title, we can’t expect all of the characters to make it out of this mission alive and now it seems that they may be dispatched in particularly brutal and bloody fashion. While chatting with fans on Twitter, Gunn confirmed that The Suicide Squad will be rated R, as you can see below.
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1344543587669659648?s=20
This will make it only the second DCEU title to date to receive an R-rating, with the first being Birds of Prey last year. That didn’t do so well at the box office, though I suspect that The Suicide Squad is far more likely to follow in the footsteps of R-rated hits like Deadpool and Logan considering Gunn’s pedigree.
Another factor that may indicate the R-rating doesn’t count for much is that this, like all of Warner Bros.’ major movies in 2021, will hit HBO Max the same day as it arrives in theaters. That should mean that the usual restrictions on those under 17 watching it without adult supervision simply won’t apply, as younger viewers can just tune in from their homes instead.
Personally, I enjoyed David Ayer’s Oscar-winning Suicide Squad. Sure, it got a bit of a critical mauling and the theatrical cut was obviously quite mangled, but at least it had a personality. Many are seeing Gunn’s sequel as a do-over or soft reboot, but I’m hoping it finds ways to build upon its predecessor instead. We’ve already gotten a behind-the-scenes video showing off some of the action, but let’s hope for a proper trailer very soon.
The Suicide Squad releases on August 6th, 2021.