SHAZAM! Producer Talks James Gunn's GUARDIANS Return; Confirms THE SUICIDE SQUAD Is "A Total Reboot"

Fans rejoiced yesterday when it was reported that James Gunn had been rehired by Walt Disney Studios and Marvel Studios to helm the third installment in his Guardians of the Galaxy film series. The news got even better when it was confirmed that he would be allowed to helm both Vol. 3 for Disney and The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros., which, by all accounts, is an unprecedented development in the history of comic book movies.

While more details will surely come out in the coming months, our friend Paul Shirey, from JoBlo, was able to catch up with DC Films producer Peter Safran, at the Shazam! press junket earlier today, to get a few brief details on how the cooperative deal came to be and whether this decision will put any extra pressure on him or Gunn to push The Suicide Squad out any quicker, "No, it was all handled incredibly elegantly and everybody knows on both sides that Suicide Squad is the priority today and he’ll finish that movie and then everybody knows that his next film will be Guardians. It’s the best of all possible both worlds, I think, for fans and for James Gunn himself."

Speaking of The Suicide Squad, it looks like the film will indeed be a reboot of the property rather than a true sequel to the 2016 David Ayer-directed film, meaning there will likely be more changes and recastings on the way. When asked about Gunn's Suicide Squad script, Safran said, "First of all, we don’t call it Suicide Squad 2 ‘cause it’s a total reboot, so it’s The Suicide Squad and I think people should be extremely excited about it. It’s everything you would hope from a James Gunn script and I think that says a lot and that promises a lot and I know that we will deliver a lot."

With fans not accustomed to seeing Marvel and DC collaborating, Safran also shared his thoughts on the long-running "rivalry" between the two comic giants. "And you know what I love about James directing for both Marvel and DC is he has always espoused the view that that which unites comic book and superhero lovers is much greater than that which divides us. Because, there’s always been this Marvel/DC rivalry, which he has has said, and I agree, is absurd. There’s room for everybody and certainly that which unites us all is far greater than that which divides us, so hopefully they’ll see that you can be both a Marvel and a DC fan and the world won’t spin off its axis."

The Suicide Squad is expected to begin production at the tail-end of this calendar year with James Gunn in the director's chair, utilizing a script he wrote. Golden Globe-winner Idria Elba (Avengers: Infinity War) has been tapped to play Deadshot and is currently the only confirmed cast member. Its slated to hit theaters August 6, 2021.