The Suicide Squad type Movie genre Superhero

Marvel’s loss is DC’s gain.

James Gunn has closed a deal to write Suicide Squad 2 and will possibly direct as well, sources say.

The former Guardians of the Galaxy director — who was fired by Disney in July for offensive yet decade-old tweets — has boarded the franchise for the sequel.

The hire makes a huge amount of sense.

Suicide Squad, like Guardians, was a superhero team-up movie with an ensemble cast of less-than-heroic characters.

And Suicide Squad, unlike Guardians, was considered a total critical disappointment. Gunn could potentially use his proven talents in this very specific genre to creatively level up the franchise for DC and Warner Bros.

After being ousted, Gunn received a tremendous outpouring of support from Marvel fans, his cast, and fellow Hollywood directors.

Despite plenty of the backlash over the move, Disney has stood by its decision. In September, CEO Bob Iger told The Hollywood Reporter, “The James Gunn decision was brought to me as a unanimous decision of a variety of executives at the studio, and I supported it … I haven’t second-guessed their decision.”

We’re told the deal for Gunn to write Suicide Squad 2 is done. DC will presumably wait until he’s turned in a script before deciding whether to hire him to direct the project as well.

Disney-Marvel is still reportedly using Gunn’s script for Guardians of the Galaxy 3, though no director has been chosen (some have suggested online they would balk at taking it over out of respect for Gunn). There’s also no production date yet set.

Related content: