James Gunn says you don't need to watch Suicide Squad to understand The Suicide Squad

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Gunn's 2021 movie looks set to be more reboot than sequel

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad
(Image credit: DC/Warner BRos)

You don't need to watch Suicide Squad to understand the confusingly-similarly-titled The Suicide Squad, according to James Gunn. 

"You will be just fine," Gunn tweeted when asked if viewers would be "hopelessly lost" if they hadn't seen David Ayer's 2016 movie before the upcoming 2021 release.

We still don’t know that much about Gunn’s reboot-slash-sequel, but the director has previously confirmed that no character is safe, with not even Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is guaranteed to emerge unscathed. 

Alongside Robbie, returning cast members from the 2016 movie include Jai Courtney as Boomerang, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. There’ll be some new faces too, including Idris Elba, John Cena, and Pete Davidson as Bloodsport, Peacemaker, and Blackguard, respectively. 

The director recently revealed that the movie is nearly finished, and we also know it'll be rated R – only the second DC movie to be classified as such after the Margot Robbie-led Birds of Prey. 

Meanwhile on Twitter. Gunn also confirmed that he's been consulting on Guardians of the Galaxy characters in Thor: Love and Thunder – before dipping his toes into the world of DC, Gunn directed two Guardians movies and is back on board for the upcoming third instalment.

"They're in great hands with Taika Waititi," he tweeted. We saw Thor join the Guardians of the Galaxy’s ship at the end of Avengers: Endgame and we know the Thorquel is set to give us an ensemble cast with "an Avengers 5 feel". 

While we wait for The Suicide Squad to hit cinemas and HBO Max on August 6, catch up on the DCEU with our guide to watching the DC movies in order.

Emily Garbutt
Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.