German film site Filmstarts has published an interview with director James Gunn in which he reveals that he toyed with the idea of having The Suicide Squad go up against a rogue Superman in an early draft of his film script.
“When I started writing The Suicide Squad, one idea was that they would fight Superman. The Suicide Squad has to catch Superman for some reason. That was all, just a vague idea. It’s gotten out of hand or is being controlled by someone. And then this group of lousy super villains has to face the most powerful hero in the world.”
While Superman doesn’t make an appearance in the final version of “The Suicide Squad” movie, the Man of Steel does rate a mention, with Bloodsport in Belle Reve prison having seriously injured Superman by shooting him with a kryptonite bullet.
“The Suicide Squad” is now available in theaters around the world and on HBO Max in the USA.
Glad this didn’t happen and hope it never does.
I’m glad that stupid plan wasn’t used. I am SICK of them turning Superman rouge. Injustice and SSKTJL already have that and it’s too much already.
I want a joyful and hopeful Superman back!
Well, that just sounds… As bad as the last Suicide Squad movie, really.
I never found the first SS as being THAT bad. I think a certain amount of negativity towards it was played off of Snyder’s attempts. I thought they went WAY overboard with the criticizing as well.
Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but I think the first SS was pretty bad. Even Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, the supposed highpoint of the film, was more grating than anything else (seriously, she needed to pick an accent and stick with it). And Jared Leto’s Joker is just… Awful.
But I’m also happy to say that I think she, and the sequel, are greatly improved. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it, but I was so happy to see that one character that I love to hate get a little of what’s coming to them.
I’m glad this nonsense NEVER came to fruition. Why would the Suicide Squad hunt a hero who is optimistic, hopeful and inspiring? OH WAIT!! Because Warner Bros. and DC constantly want to make Superman evil (like in “Injustice”). Here is a better idea: The Suicide Squad hunts Batman who has gone mad and has started killing his villain’s one by one. How about that idea? Frank Miller what do you think? Geoff Johns, what do you think? Oh, I see. Only silence. They only want the hopeful and optimistic Superman to be a “bad guy” so that other “VILLAINS” can… Read more »
Dude, ssshhhhh… Frank Miller would go for it.
We already had Batman killing people, in jjust about every movie he has appeared in
Well,,,,,not indiscriminate killing. And to be fair, in Batman’s world where the criminal elements are basically there to KILL him, it makes sense he’s not goiing to offer them milk and cookies.
I have to wonder, when did Superman become the world’s public enemy No. 1? Is it so hard to a Superman that inspires mankind rather than terrorise it?
When you stated to have heroic properties being handled by cynical people with thinly veiled contempt for them but who still love that sweet, sweet brand recognition.
Who can there possibly be left in any of these companies that still thinks “Yeah, what a great idea!!” whenever some hack proposes a “But what if Superman … turned eeeevil?!” story? It’s been done so many times, all the way back to Chris Reeve in ‘Superman III’ and way, way further back to the first appearance of Ultraman in 1964. The idea is literally decades old. I was willing to give Zack Snyder a pass on his plans for Darkseid to corrupt Superman because I love ‘Man of Steel’ and Zack’s ‘Justice League’, and I really, really wanted to… Read more »
Your right about ZS’s JL. Finally saw it 2 weeks ago. It was great!!! Didn’t seem like a 4 hour movie to me. Never a dull moment throughout. When it came right down to it there wasn’t a great deal of Superman in it. But tons better than the first chop job JL.
On a side note…..Zack really new how to work Wonder Woman. Much better than what we’ve seen under different director.
Guys, it’s an idea that makes money. I hate it as much as you all do, but the general public is tickled by the notion of DC’s demigod being the antagonist, no matter how many times they see it. It’s conflict at its most fundamental level, it’s drama, it’s biblical, it’s an easy recipe to success.
Regardless, I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I too am glad this didn’t happen. It *is* however the plot (or part of the plot) of the upcoming Suicide Squad videogame, so we didn’t exactly dodge that bullet entirely.
The problem is this is the type of binary thinking that has caused and causes lots of unintended very negative consequences. (not saying you, just the idea) Yes, it might make money, but so can a well written hopeful Superman. The kind of Superman that was originally intended and has been generally depicted since his founders. It doesn’t have to be an either / or zero sum game, but there seems to be many people in position that think just that. Foolishly ignorant, creatively bankrupt people imo. They’re damaging their own IP’s long term profitability; again imo. Their cynicism and… Read more »
The evil Superman trope didn’t come out of nowhere. The hopeful Superman (who was not really originally intended, early post-Depression Superman wasn’t a hopeful or particularly cheery Superman) didn’t make them the money they wanted. They know they can’t sell a mainline evil Superman, because that would indeed damage the IP, which is why they’re constantly putting off big Superman projects; but at the same time they know that their best chance to sell Superman content to the mainstream that doesn’t much care for Superman is to have him be evil and preferably taken on by Batman. What was the… Read more »
NeoR…..The one word at this point, more likely that’s the driving factor IS, “profitability”. To us, it’s entertainment but to the companies spending big dough, it IS all about profitability. They’ve tried to make Superman, movie wise, relevant and spent big money doing so. Some say they’ve missed the mark completely. What else can be done?? In today’s world it always seems like “negativity” wins out, and gets the most attention as well. This new Suicide Squad attempt looks to be another expensive box office under performer. These big special effect movies, might just fade away as there appears to… Read more »
Profitability is the big issue here, that’s true. Superman exists in this weird place, where the IP is still big and makes a profit, but not popular enough to make all the money, as WB wants. This has been their issue and why they can’t quite stick to a direction with him. But I would challenge the notion that negativity wins out in today’s world; especially after the last few years, trends have shifted. It’s not negativity people want, it’s genuine conflict. Superman, as a character, doesn’t lack conflict; but the stereotypical mainstream perception of him does. When you have… Read more »
This has been a problem with Superman’s character in general. We’ve already been through all the “saves” he accomplished. So then what??? That’s why in movies like the Justice League he gets somewhat beat down. Other wise, he what….comes in, beats up the big bad and end of story?? It gets more difficult show casing him once you get past his heroics. It’s difficult balancing his character just because he’s “Superman”. Not sure at this point in time,.. if that can be accomplished.
I hate the idea, but something to remember is that this idea was an early one – so it’s likely from a few years ago when there was a lot more talk about “Injustice” than there is now (not the it’s not still popular, you just don’t hear quite as much outside the fan community anymore). So he probably heard about the game and thought “oh, we could do that with Suicide Squad.” It’s a tired and old idea to us, but if you don’t keep up as much with things, it would still seem novel. Glad they didn’t do… Read more »
Shoulda went with that. The movie sucked. Harley wasn’t needed, neither was the throwaway characters at the very beginning.