Will there be a Suicide Squad 3? Latest news on possible sequel to The Suicide Squad
James Gunn may not be done with DC's antihero team.
James Gunn's fresh new take on The Suicide Squad seems to have given the franchise a new lease of life, earning a significantly warmer reception from fans and critics than the 2016 original.
If the box office reception is similarly strong, this franchise could well continue to tell further stories with its few surviving characters, with Gunn recently expressing interest in returning to the director's chair.
Of course, the blockbuster will have to contend with a hostile pandemic market, which has seen major blockbusters like Tenet, Fast & Furious 9 and Black Widow perform well below what would be expected in ordinary times.
The Suicide Squad has the added hurdle of having a mature R rating (or a 15 here in the UK), while our friends across the pond have the option to stream it for no additional fee on HBO Max.
However, there's reason to be optimistic that The Suicide Squad can overcome these hurdles with good word-of-mouth, while the franchise seems to be a priority for Warner Bros given their recent order of a Peacemaker streaming series.
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For now, read on for all the details we have so far on a potential Suicide Squad 3 in the DC Extended Universe.
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Will there be a The Suicide Squad sequel?
Warner Bros is yet to announce whether James Gunn's The Suicide Squad will get a sequel, with the decision likely to rest on the film's financial performance.
The official budget for the film has not been released by the studio, but as a star-studded summer blockbuster, it is likely to be somewhere in the region of $150 million.
Typically, a film of that price tag requires a worldwide gross of approximately $500 million to breakeven, accounting for marketing costs and the cut taken by cinema outlets.
In ordinary times, that would be a perfectly achievable figure, but in light of the unpredictable pandemic market, it could prove more challenging for The Suicide Squad to achieve.
If the film does prove to be a financial success, it seems likely that director James Gunn would return for another round, recently telling Entertainment Weekly that he's working on an idea for a "very different" sequel.
"I've had ideas, actually," he said, discussing a potential follow-up. "If I did a sequel, it's not like, 'Hey, let's assemble another team and let's do this!' It would be very different."
Previously, Gunn had confirmed on Twitter that we can expect more from Peacemaker and the other surviving Suicide Squad characters in other DCEU projects, suggesting he could be working on more spin-offs.
In July 2021, a report by pop culture site Giant Freakin Robot claimed that Warner Bros was pursuing Gunn to helm a third Suicide Squad movie and more DC streaming shows, but take that with a pinch of salt for now.
When could a potential Suicide Squad 3 be released?
If Warner Bros were to green light a third Suicide Squad movie, the film would probably take a little while to get to cinemas given that Gunn will be tied up with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 for the near future.
The director's trilogy closer for Marvel Studios is expected to start filming this November for release in May 2023, while he'll also have the much-anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special to polish off.
Those other high-profile gigs mean that a potential Suicide Squad 3 might not be able to start production until 2023, which would suggest a release date of 2024 at the very earliest.
In the meantime, fans can look forward to John Cena's Peacemaker television series, which also sees the return of The Suicide Squad co-stars Steve Agee and Jennifer Holland (who played Amanda Waller's assistants at ARGUS).
Who could feature in a potential The Suicide Squad sequel cast?
**SPOILERS FOR THE SUICIDE SQUAD**
James Gunn was true to the promise of a high bodycount in The Suicide Squad, with roughly half of the costumed characters in the movie meeting grisly fates before the credits rolled.
The surviving antiheroes that would be candidates to reprise their roles in a sequel are – spoiler alert – Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Ratcatcher (Daniela Melchior), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), Weasel (Sean Gunn) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie).
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In addition, Viola Davis would likely return as Task Force X's cold-hearted boss Amanda Waller, with Steve Agee and Jennifer Holland as her close aides.
However, Gunn's aforementioned comments to EW that his sequel would be "very different" to what came before, suggests that he could well enlist an all-new cast of characters to give the film a completely fresh feel. Will The Joker be making an appearance?
Want more content? Read our breakdown of The Suicide Squad's post-credits scene or find out where The Suicide Squad was filmed with our location guide.
The Suicide Squad is released in UK cinemas on Friday 30th July. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.
