Here’s a hot take to start with: I liked David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. I also can’t lie and say that The Suicide Squad won’t be better given that James Gunn is involved with the project.
Director James Gunn started the film’s DC FanDome panel right away saying that filming The Suicide Squad was the most fun he’s ever had, which is a bold statement, especially because he did Guardians of the Galaxy.
After answering some fan questions – an aspect I loved that DC incorporated. It was a fail for San Diego Comic-Con as their pre-recorded sessions never included fan questions.
Gunn talked about his love for the comic book and its characters. You could see his passion radiate from the screen and that he was the right man for the job. Many of us had a big issue with the first film in that it tried to be too much like his Guardians, so it makes sense to have gotten the actual guy that brought it to the screen give us his vision on the material.
When asked about who he would get to play with, Gunn introduced a fun roll call announcing the full cast, who then joined him on the panel. We saw old and new characters announced ina. comic strip style trailer that was very creative. Fans saw new costumes for Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag. I dug Flag’s new look as it’s more accurate and a significant improvement from his basic look in the first film. We also got our re-introduction to Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller.
In regards to the new actors we learned that Idris Elba is Bloodsport, Alice Braga is SolSoria, Nathan Fillon is T.D.K., Pete Davidson is Blackguard, Michael Rooker is Savant, Sean Gunn is Weasel, Flula Borg is Javelin, Daniela Melchior is Ratcatcher 2, Peter Capaldi is Thinker, Mayling Ng is Mongal, and as previously reported John Cena, Steve Agee, and David Dastmalchian would portray Peacemaker, King Shark, and Polka-Dot Man respectively.
While many online are making fun of Cena’s costume, I loved it because it reminds me of the costumes we saw in Gunn’s early superhero film Super. In the excitement of all this, I forgot that there was no mention what so ever about Taika Waititi, who is set to also start in the film. He would have been so high in this panel, but the cast did a great job making it fun.
Gunn started a trivia game with the cast with Viola Davis and Joel Kinnaman as captains. They picked their team, and the game began. It was fun to see how well the actors know the world they’re portraying on the screen. The vibe during this was great, and you can tell they all had such a great time working together on the film.
Margot Robbie then asked Gunn how the movie was turning out. He once again talked about how this was the most fun he’s ever had on a set and how this was the best cast he’s ever worked with. You could see it in his face that he indeed did have a great time filming it, and it was definitely what he needed after what he was going through after being fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.
He went on to talk about how it’s turning out great and how the executives at Warner Bros. are pleased with what they have seen so far. He talked about the many themes and balances the film has, including that its surprisingly very dramatic. He then announced the winner of the game – Viola Davis’ team.
To end with a bang, Gunn gave them and us, the audience, a behind the scenes look at the film. While I did love the comic strip character intro, I’m happy we also got this footage to see the characters in action. I have to say it looks fantastic, despite being a fan of what Ayer did. Just based on this material you can already tell it will be a better movie. The style of it feels very different in a significant way.
I’m very excited about this film, and we have less than a year before we see it for ourselves as it is set to arrive in cinemas on August 6, 2021.
Now it’s time for Black Adam
I was excited about this panel especially being a long time fan of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson from his wrestling days. I’ve also always felt he was perfect for the comic book genre. He is an incredible spokesperson who DC can use as one of the faces for the DCEU plus he has a huge fan base that will follow him to DC.
In his intro, he explained that Boss Logic and Jim Lee helped come up with the Black Adam concept art fans got to preview in the opening, along with the reveal of the official logo. You can tell The Rock is passionate about this project, even mentioning how he’s been attached to it for over ten years. He came off very enthusiastic about giving us the fans a great product. He was also vocal about how he wished he could show us more, but the film is still in the early stages, so what we saw is all he could give us in terms of pre-production details.
Noah Centineo also made an appearance. He is playing Atom Smasher in the film. He and The Rock had a fun back and forth banter, and you can tell they are going to have fun working together.
We then got another cool concept video that showed us who from the JSA (Justice Society of America) would make an appearance: Hawkman, Dr. Fate, and Cyclone. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any new casting news regarding the film.
While I did enjoy this panel, it felt a bit underwhelming based on what I was expecting from it. However, I’m excited about this movie and can’t wait to see it when it arrives in cinemas on December 22, 2021.
