James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad bags its R-Rating ahead of its simultaneous release on both HBO Max and selected cinemas

The rumors were flying around that James Gunn’s sequel to ‘Suicide Squad‘, neatly entitled ‘The Suicide Squad‘ would be aiming for an R rating instead of the usual PG-13.  The first film was rumored to be heading for an R rating before being awarded a PG-13. And director David Ayer confirmed that the film was always going to be rated for a family audience instead of going for an adult approach. The film did gain a 15 Certificate in the United Kingdom for strong violence but it was the same version shown in the United States.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Pictures has had success with R rated DC films with the Oscar-Winning ‘Joker’ bringing the world a dark origin story for the clown prince of crime. And of course, last year’s ‘Birds Of Prey: And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn‘ with Margot Robbie once again playing the Joker’s now-former muse in her second film ahead of toplining ‘The Suicide Squad‘ this coming August. What we saw at DC FanDome showed what looked like a more violent, adult-oriented film than the original film.

James Gunn

It has now been confirmed by James Gunn himself that the film WILL be rated R, giving DC another harder, darker comic book movie to add to their collection. Gunn confirmed the news after being asked by a fan on Twitter:

Yes it’s rated R.

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) December 31, 2020

James Gunn has also confirmed that the spin-off from the new film named ‘Peacemaker‘ and featuring John Cena reprising the character he will be debuting in ‘The Suicide Squad‘ will also be adult-oriented and NOT aimed at a family audience when it debuts on HBO MAX. Gun is quoted as saying: “If we edited it for broadcast TV it would be forty seconds long”.

Harder-Edged Content

Some of my fellow Future Of The Force writers are less than enthusiastic about the harder-edged content coming out from DC at the moment. But I’m actually all for it. In the respects of ‘Birds Of Prey‘ and ‘The Suicide Squad‘, I believe they are perfect for a more adult audience and rating, based on the graphic novels and their content.

In terms of ‘Joker‘, I think it was a brave decision to make a violent, dark and disturbing alternate origin story for Batman’s greatest nemesis but one that was pulled off with great aplomb and great effect. It proved that an R-rated DC feature would appeal to the fans and non-fans alike.

Justice League

It has also helped Zack Snyder to make his cut of ‘Justice League‘ more violent than the toned-down ‘Josstice League‘ that we were given back in 2017. Although the rating is still pending and isn’t confirmed as yet.  The choice to go down the darker, the more graphically violent route is a no brainer. I would certainly be interested in a darker, R-rated ‘Batman’ film one day.

The other content that DC will be bringing our way, such as ‘The Batman‘, ‘Aquaman 2‘, ‘The Flash‘ and ‘Shazam! Fury Of The Gods‘ will be PG-13 rated but with this news, it appears that Warner Bros. and DC are continually pushing the envelope and I look forward to seeing it all.

Source: Twitter

 

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