Before he helms Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, James Gunn is directing The Suicide Squad for DC. We’ve been told that this will be more of a reboot than a straight-up sequel to David Ayer’s 2016 movie, but another star of that film has now confirmed that they’re set to return for the second Task Force X mission.
While promoting his new movie Storm Boy, Jai Courtney was asked by Business Insider about the next Suicide Squad and the Australian actor revealed that he’ll be back as Captain Boomerang in the anti-hero team-up flick, which he promises is going to shoot this year.
“We’re getting ready to shoot in a few months’ time. There’s not much else I can reveal about it but, yeah, you’ll be seeing Boomerang back for sure.”
Courtney is just the latest of the original squad to be revealed to be returning. Viola Davis will be back as mastermind Amanda Waller while Margot Robbie is surely a shoe-in for another go at her fan favorite role of Harley Quinn. That said, Joel Kinnaman isn’t expected to return as Rick Flag. The biggest casting change, though, is the fact that Idris Elba is expected to replace Will Smith in the role of Floyd Lawton/Deadshot.
Gunn is also expected to fill out the team with some new characters pulled from the comics, including Killer Frost and King Shark. His Guardians star Dave Bautista is rumored to be following him to the DC universe to take on the role of Peacemaker in the movie, too.
Despite the comments that it’s a total reboot, then, it sounds like The Suicide Squad will be more like something in the middle – one of the leads will be recast and there will likely be a huge stylistic change, but it sounds like fans can still consider the first movie to be in canon with this one. The sequel is due to film in Atlanta, Georgia this September before releasing on August 6th, 2021, so be sure to stay tuned for more.