What If James Gunn Had Made The Suicide Squad In 2016?

If James Gunn had made The Suicide Squad in 2016 in the place of David Ayer’s movie, the film would likely have shaped the future of the DCEU in an interesting way. Although the movies that make up the DCEU are often thought to be divisive at best, David Ayer’s Suicide Squad is generally considered a low point. Despite introducing Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn – one of the franchise’s most widely enjoyed characters – Suicide Squad failed to impress, with the jarring pace of its narrative and inconsistently-written ensemble cast cited as particular issues.

On the other hand, James Gunn’s 2021 sequel, The Suicide Squad, was much better received by critics and audiences alike. Focusing primarily on new characters, The Suicide Squad surprisingly fixed many of the 2016 movie’s issues with a more cohesive story and better use of its ensemble cast. Though Gunn’s film follows on from Ayer’s, the two narratives are largely unrelated, aside from the very broad strokes of their general premise, which is itself adapted from the comics.

Had James Gunn made the first Suicide Squad movie, the DCEU could have looked entirely different. Gunn’s sense of humor and knack for irreverent storytelling would have served the DCEU well in its earlier stages, and his characterization of its antiheroes and villains would have been particularly refreshing at a pivotal time in the DCEU’s existence. In an alternate timeline in which James Gunn had made his Suicide Squad movie in the place of David Ayer’s, the whole franchise might look very different.

James Gunn’s 2016 Suicide Squad Would Have Used Different Characters

When making his DCEU movie, James Gunn opted for a particular method of choosing The Suicide Squad‘s Task Force X characters, which involved selecting lesser-known villains from DC’s roster and working out how to translate them to the film. Picking more obscure characters was an interesting choice, and it’s one that paid off for Gunn, making for a fresh and utterly unique spin on the DCEU’s established ideas. The careful selection of these characters was an integral part of Gunn’s film, because his painstaking consideration over which characters would make the most entertaining team contributed massively to the brilliant dynamic between its cast.

The characters of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad can’t boast the same chemistry as those of Gunn’s movie, but it’s unlikely that Gunn would have selected the same roster for Task Force X. Though The Suicide Squad had some characters return, only three played a notable role (Harley Quinn, Rick Flag, and Amanda Waller), with Gunn making heavy revisions to their respective characterizations. It’s unlikely that Gunn would have opted for Suicide Squad‘s team – he even went as far as to say he wouldn’t consider using the character of Katana because she’s an antihero rather than a villain. If Gunn had made the first Suicide Squad film, its cast may have been more carefully selected in order to maximize drama and comedy by facilitating the best possible team dynamic.

Suicide Squad’s Story Would Have Changed Drastically With James Gunn

It’s also clear that Suicide Squad‘s story almost certainly would have been drastically different if Gunn had been in charge. Although Gunn made each of them compelling in their own right, not all of The Suicide Squad‘s characters survived the events of the 2021. In fact, Warner Bros. reportedly gave Gunn free rein to kill anyone he deemed necessary, including Harley Quinn, who has proved one of the franchise’s most well-liked characters.

Had Gunn been a part of the 2016 movie, it’s entirely possible that he’d have exercised this freedom by killing off one or more of the film’s main characters (not unlike he did in The Suicide Squad). It’s also likely that the 2016 Suicide Squad would have told a more dynamic story under Gunn’s direction, as he has previously expressed an aversion to needlessly dark and gritty storytelling without any attempts at levity. As so many of the best elements of The Suicide Squad stemmed from James Gunn’s unique vision, it’s all but a certainty that he would have shaped the first film similarly had he been involved.

Gunn’s Approach Would Have Helped The DCEU’s Snyderverse Evolution

It has been suggested that James Gunn could save the DCEU thanks primarily to the fact that he avoids all of Zack Snyder’s major shortcomings. While Snyder’s movies proved divisive for their relentless grittiness, Gunn’s own approach is far more comically-inclined, making for lighter viewing that’s also somewhat irreverent and wacky where needed. 2016’s Suicide Squad came at a key point in the franchise’s evolution, and so Gunn making his DC debut at that stage would have helped shape the DCEU after Snyder’s departure.

Snyder’s vision for the DCEU was singular, and his departure during Justice League‘s production left the franchise feeling directionless to its audience. Warner Bros. is only now beginning to recover the tonal fumble, but had they already had James Gunn on board at the moment of Snyder’s departure, his ideas could have helped ease the DCEU’s transition away from the Snyderverse’s story. Gunn having made a DCEU movie at that point would have set a subtle precedent for a tonal overhaul, because the dark comedic tone that is characteristic of his films would have already served as a counterpoint to Snyder’s loftier ideas, enabling a clearer and more consistent means of approaching a new future for the DCEU after Snyder’s departure.

How Gunn’s Suicide Squad Would Change Key DCEU Characters

One of the key ways in which Gunn would have shaped the DCEU is the way that an earlier Suicide Squad movie from the director would have affected key franchise characters. 2016’s Suicide Squad introduced the Joker into the DCEU, and had Gunn made the film, this would likely have been handled differently. Changing the Joker’s characterization would also likely have a knock-on effect for Ben Affleck’s Batman, because the two characters are so intrinsically linked that one is almost certain to affect the other.

Importantly, The Suicide Squad gave James Gunn freedom over the violence and language used in his installment into the franchise, and that could also have subtly shaped other DCEU heroes. A funnier and more irreverent tone would surely have come to bleed over into the movies of other key characters, with the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg all potentially becoming a little less lofty as a result. The comedy influence of James Gunn’s earlier involvement in the franchise could have potentially had far-reaching consequences that may have affected change in unrelated DC heroes.

Why James Gunn Couldn’t Have Made Suicide Squad

Ultimately, the events leading up to James Gunn making The Suicide Squad in 2021 explain why he couldn’t have joined the franchise earlier. After controversial past comments surfaced, Marvel dismissed Gunn from the MCU, prompting DC to offer him a place in the rival franchise. In 2016, however, Gunn was busy working for Marvel creating the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, meaning he was likely too busy and committed to Marvel to have made a DC movie. However, had James Gunn been available and willing to make a Suicide Squad movie back in 2016, the DCEU would almost certainly have found itself in far better shape in the years that followed.