David Ayer Says Suicide Squad Movie Is "Dirty Dozen with Supervillains"

Warner Bros. dropped a number of news bombs last week when it unveiled its slate of DC Comics movies through the year 2020, announcing casting and director news in the process. One of the more curious revelations was the fact that a Suicide Squad movie would be the first DC adaptation to hit theaters after the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in March 2016. Instead of following the sure-to-be-massive superhero pic up with something more recognizable like Wonder Woman or even Aquaman, Warner Bros. is going with a more obscure title that will certainly be an outlier in the superhero genre.

Fury and End of Watch director David Ayer was confirmed as the director of Suicide Squad—the story of a group of supervillains on missions—during the news dump, and now Ayer has spoken a bit about his plans for the comic book adaptation. Ayer likened the film to the Lee Marvin-fronted 1967 classic The Dirty Dozen, and spoke about its lack of heroes. Read on after the jump.

Speaking with Empire, Ayer didn’t offer too many revelations about his Suicide Squad movie, but he did say Fury “whetted [his] appetite for a bigger canvas and this idea of world creation,” and in regards to the tone of the film, he offered this this:

“I can say that it’s a Dirty Dozen with supervillains. Then I can ask the question, ‘Does a movie really need good guys?’”

For those unfamiliar with the source material, it revolves around a team of antihero supervillains who work for the U.S. government, undertaking dangerous black ops missions in exchange for commuted prison sentences. Looking at Ayer’s filmography, that story seems like a solid fit for the filmmaker, and Warner Bros. is aiming high with its cast as a recent report has Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and Tom Hardy close to signing on to the ensemble.

Ayer didn’t comment on the casting but did say he wouldn’t change his rigorous and tough preparation process for actors, and he also spoke a bit about comic books in general:

“I love the passion [comic-book fans] have for these characters and these worlds. I think there’s something incredible about the comic genre and technology has finally caught up with pen and ink to render these fantastic worlds in a way that feels believable and visceral to audiences. It’s a secular religion in that regards. The mythology that these characters represent – the idea of them as fallen gods on Earth – is intriguing to me. I can’t wait to start exploring those corridors.”

With an August 5, 2016 release date set for Suicide Squad, expect to hear more firm word soon as Ayer digs deep into the script and starts prepping to start production sometime next year.

Click here to catch up on all of our Suicide Squad coverage thus far, and peruse the recent links for DC Comics movie stories below: