James Gunn’s most popular movie may be Guardians of the Galaxy, but his personal favorite screenplay that he’s ever written is The Suicide Squad, the upcoming DC reboot-or-is-it-a-sequel following the misadventures of Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang and the rest of Task Force X.
Gunn revealed his pick when asked by a fan on Instagram, “Favorite movie you’ve ever written, so far at least????” The writer-director responded with, “My favorite screenplays you mean? I love the movies I directed all the same, but I think I love The Suicide Squad script the most. Also love the scripts for Dawn of the Dead, Super, and The Specials.”
Gunn picking The Suicide Squad as his favorite may come as a surprise to fans who see him as synonymous with Guardians of the Galaxy, which went from a lesser known Marvel Comics property to a hit movie franchise thanks to his humorous and heartfelt approach to the group. Then again, The Suicide Squad seems like it will be full of many things that Gunn is known for, like telling the story of a group of colorful misfits, putting the spotlight on his personal favorite obscure comic characters, and shocking the audience with stylish violence. We’ll have to wait and see just what makes this Gunn movie so special when The Suicide Squad releases on August 6, 2021.
[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=every-actor-and-character-confirmed-for-dcs-the-suicide-squad&captions=true”]
In his answer, Gunn clarified that he loves all of the movies he directed the same, which includes Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel, Slither, Movie 43 and Super.
He also highlighted some other favorite screenplays — Dawn of the Dead, Super, and The Specials. Sorry, fans of the live-action Scooby-doo movies, but Gunn didn’t show any love for Shaggy, Velma and the rest of the gang.
Gunn previously shared that his inspiration for The Suicide Squad story comes from not only the classic John Ostrander 1987 comic run of Suicide Squad but the original 1959 version that was much, much different featuring adventurers, soldiers and scientists fighting surreal threats that bears little resemblance to the modern, Dirty Dozen iteration. Perhaps the cast list Gunn revealed features so many names because he’ll be showing the past and present versions of The Suicide Squad colliding?
And before anyone takes Gunn favoring The Suicide Squad as a slight against Marvel, know that Gunn doesn’t see any rivalry between DC and Marvel because they’re actually in quite similar boats. Not to mention, Gunn has been re-hired to make Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, so he’ll be hopping across to that superhero cinematic universe after completing work on The Suicide Squad.
[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/07/06/comics-history-101-suicide-squad”]
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.
Source: IGN.com James Gunn Chooses Which of His Screenplays He Loves the Most (And It's Not Guardians)