After a tumultuous (to say the least) 2018, filmmaker James Gunn is probably feeling pretty unstoppable in 2019. First, he lends his producer’s mind to the upcoming “Brightburn,” which hits theaters in a couple of months, and appears to have built a fair amount of buzz. Then he begins production on his “reboot” of the DC franchise “The Suicide Squad.” After all that, he was announced as being re-hired by Disney for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” 2019 is off to a great start for Mr. Gunn.
And as we approach the beginning of production for “The Suicide Squad,” details about the returning cast from David Ayer’s 2016 dumpster fire is beginning to emerge. We already heard that Jai Courtney is returning, Margot Robbie may or may not be coming back, and now, Viola Davis is reportedly joining Gunn’s film as the slightly evil government liaison for the anti-hero team, Amanda Waller.
READ MORE: Jai Courtney Will Boomerang Back Into James Gunn’s ‘Suicide Squad’ Reboot
The Wrap is reporting that Davis is making her return to the DCEU after her appearance as Waller in “Suicide Squad.” It appears that Gunn’s “reboot” (again, we’re using quotes because it appears that it’s a sequel, but also the director’s interpretation of the source material, so a reboot is a bit of a stretch) is going to pick and choose the elements from Ayer’s film that worked.
Davis is an Oscar-winning actress that is way better than the previous “Suicide Squad” would tell you. Granted, if you are ranking the individual travesties in Ayer’s film, Davis’ performance is far from the worst and is actually arguably one of the highlights (as are Courtney’s Captain Boomerang and Robbie’s Harley Quinn). The actress has appeared in a large number of great films, including “The Help,” “Doubt,” “Fences” (which earned her the Oscar trophy), and most recently, “Widows.”
She joins a cast that includes the aforementioned Courtney, as well as Idris Elba, who replaces Will Smith as Deadshot. Again, we think Robbie is returning, but her status is less clear, considering she has “Birds of Prey” coming up and Warner Bros. wants to use her in just about every DC film it is developing.
“The Suicide Squad” is currently scheduled for August 6, 2021.
