Warner Bros Wants FURY Director To Take Lead On SUICIDE SQUAD Movie

DC and Warner Bros. aren’t only looking at superheroes to lead their movies. They’re also turning to the criminal underworld for a box office draw. According to Variety, David Ayer (Fury, End of Watch) is being looked at to direct a Suicide Squad movie. It’s unclear how far into the deal Warner Bros is with Ayer, but the article says that the studio thinks he’s a good fit for the “dark and edgy film.” A Suicide Squad film was previously reported to be in the works by Bleeding Cool last December as a lower-budget project, along with Deathstroke, Booster Gold and Team 7 feature films.

Although the modern day iteration of the Suicide Squad has existed since the 1980s (there’s an unrelated Squad from the Silver Age), the team’s popularity is at an all-time high. In the comics, the series was recently relaunched as New Suicide Squad, with a lineup featuring Harley Quinn, Joker’s Daughter, Black Manta, Deathstroke and Deadshot. In other media, the team recently starred in the improperly-named Batman: Assault on Arkham and was introduced during Arrow season 2. There’s also been chatter of the Arrow iteration, which is currently starring as the backup story in the digital-first comic series Arrow Season 2.5, possibly spinning off into its own series.

In early August, Warner Bros reserved dates for at least nine DC films, all following Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Two of those dates are reserved for the inevitable Justice League and Shazam films, meaning seven spots are left, so clearly there’s enough room for a story about coerced super villains performing black-ops missions for the U.S. government. A Suicide Squad movie allows DC to dive into the non-superheroic side of their properties. Aside from the Sandman film, DC’s films announced and rumored films all star heroes wanting to help the world. That’s all fine and dandy, but it doesn’t hurt switch things up by exploring the anti-hero side of things. Sorry, did I call them anti-heroes? More like the dregs of society.

I see Suicide Squad working similarly to Captain America: The Winter Soldier in terms of tone: gritty with plenty of fierce action and espionage. Of course, keep in mind these are some of the weirdest and most dangerous villains the DC Universe has to offer, all of whom wouldn’t blink an eye at screwing their teammates over if they didn’t have micro bombs in their heads. So there also needs to be some wit and humor, although not Guardians of the Galaxy-type humor. Something more dry and sarcastic. Ayer is experienced with writing and direction action movies, so if Suicide Squad does get off the ground, he seems well-suited for the director’s chair.

There’s just one problem. With the Suicide Squad’s increasing prominence on Arrow (and possibly The Flash), will this affect how they are able to use the Squad on TV? Obviously the Arrow Suicide Squad won’t be the same as the cinematic Suicide Squad, and from a business standpoint, movies take precedence over TV since they haul in more money. Will the TV Suicide Squad have to change its name? Aside from a snide comment from Floyd Lawton in Arrow season 2, they haven’t been referred to as “Suicide Squad” much in the series, so if a spinoff were ordered, maybe they would just call it Task Force X, or take a cue from their Marvel competitors and call it Agents of ARGUS. What about their members? Will using certain Suicide Squad members in the movie prevent their use on TV? I certainly hope not. I don’t want Michael Rowe’s Deadshot going anywhere!

As far as the movie lineup goes, my only demands are that Deadshot, Amanda Waller and Rick Flagg Jr. be included in the cast. Other than that, I’m lenient. Members over their decades-long history have included King Shark, Captain Boomerang, Plastique, Bronze Tiger, Harley Quinn and many others, so there’s plenty of wackos to choose from. Who do you want to see in the cinematic Suicide Squad? Let us know in the comments.

SOURCE: Variety