The Suicide Squad is a hotly anticipated superhero movie set to release next month from the mind of beloved cult filmmaker James Gunn. Originally an indie film visionary Gunn is perhaps best known today for directing the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, which bears a striking similarity to Gunn's upcoming film.
James Gunn is a filmmaker with a particular style that permeates everything he does, he is beloved for his distinct sense of humor and oddball characters. Guardians of the Galaxy is a standout in the MCU thanks to his creative vision, but in turn, DC adopting that same creator might attract derision.
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The Suicide Squad is a sequel to 2016's Suicide Squad which was less than well-received. James Gunn took over directorial duties for the sequel after a messy firing from the Guardians franchise, a move that was taken by some as a mocking gesture. Shortly thereafter, fan outcry and the weight of multiple stars managed to convince Disney to place Gunn back in the directorial seat for the upcoming 3rd film. This is a fairly contentious back and forth for the two biggest superhero film industries, who are evidently eager to set two films so specifically to face off. Doing this could benefit both films, but could also result in fatigue for either, but is more likely to affect The Suicide Squad, the newer of the two.
Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad are similar in a number of fascinating ways. Both are superhero stories based around ensemble casts of loosely affiliated outlaws, brought together by circumstance to pursue a noble goal. Both casts are built mostly of characters that are mostly lesser-known figures of their respective catalogue, sure Groot and Drax are household names today, but the film is what brought them to prominence. Both teams are light on actual superpowers, relying mainly on advanced technology and heightened physical skills. Both teams even meet in a prison, because they are both comprised of criminals for whom doing a good deed is unusual.
Lines could even be drawn between particular members of each group, fans can debate which Suicide Squad teammate is the Groot of the group with decent arguments for multiple applicants. Combine all those aspects and add in the same very distinct visionary and the comparisons will become unavoidable, so how can The Suicide Squad set itself apart?
The most obvious change is the rating, like most of Gunn's earlier work, The Suicide Squad boasts a hard R rating. Gunn is able to cut loose, without the overbearing restrictions of family-friendly Disney keeping him out of the violent and erotic spaces he used to thrive in. R-rated superhero movies have been a point of contention over the past few years, many complained that the first Suicide Squad film felt edited down to stay within PG-13 boundaries. Allowing a greater degree of freedom for James Gunn plays heavily into his old style. Fans of his work were famously confused when he signed on for Marvel's brand of family friendly action cinema. The greater degree of freedom allows for a difference in tone which will be another significant differentiating factor.
The Guardians Of The Galaxy series' heroes are complex and morally ambiguous figures; a petty criminal, two shady mercenaries, a reformed assassin and a musclebound murderer. The group is undoubtedly imperfect, they typically wind up doing the right thing out of necessity or for profit. While, in the abstract, that is certainly similar to the conceit of the titular Suicide Squad, the members of that team are presented a little bit darker.
The criminal antics of Star-lord, the questionable activities of Rocket and Groot, the bloody pasts of Gamora and Drax are grim, but presented as either hilarious or justifiable. The Guardians are criminals, but either out of necessity or in the shadow of a much worse villain, the films' narratives present them as fundamentally heroic. When they steal, they steal from monsters, when they destroy property, it's fun and when they kill, their targets deserve it.
Where the Guardians are criminals with hearts of gold, the Suicide Squad is staffed by villains who are forced under threat of death to save the day. The group can be portrayed sympathetically, but they are supervillains sporting impressive body counts. Combined with the R-Rating, the characters featured in The Suicide Squad can get into the darker aspects of their own actions, allowing for a much grittier tone that could let this film stand out.
The Guardians of the Galaxy films occupy a higher level of scale in the MCU, spanning huge areas and combatting universe-wide threats. By contrast, The Suicide Squad is much smaller, dealing with the destruction of a city by a giant monster. Superhero universes have always divided themselves into tiers, usually starting at street level where people in costumes stop purse-snatchers and bank robbers and topping out at the edges of the universe. Constraining the narrative to an island as the film has drastically changes the stakes from the planet-hopping laser battles of Guardians and allows a smaller, more personal story to flourish.
Two films of similar concept, in the same genre, created by the same filmmaker will be unavoidably compared to one another, but with some key differences and the wealth of creativity provided by James Gunn, those comparisons can be escaped. The Suicide Squad has the potential to stand out, growing to something truly original and delighting fans.
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