The Suicide Squad is clearly going to be a fun ride, and if the first trailer is any indication, an action-packed blockbuster to boot. That's a point James Gunn emphasised in a recent interview with Associated Press while talking about a sequence revolving around Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn.
"She’s able to do the comedy. She’s able to do the drama. And physically, she is a pure athlete and is able to do these stunts in such a graceful, magnificent, beautiful way," the filmmaker said, praising the actress. "And so I wrote the biggest action scene I’ve ever done all around (Robbie’s character) Harley, and it was so fun to create just on every level from working with the stunt guys all the way through to working with her."
"It’s probably my favorite four minutes of film I’ve ever shot before," Gunn continued. "[Margot Robbie] can do anything. Or I thought she could do anything. And then one day she had to sing and I said, ‘OK, well you can do everything but one thing.’ But she’s such a great actress. She embodies the character."
That's high praise indeed, and The Suicide Squad writer and director would later take to Twitter to add: "Not only the most fun I’ve ever had on set, and the most impressed I ever was with a performer, it’s probably the coolest action sequence I’ve ever shot." He also confirmed that the cast was told whether their character would live or die when they were offered their roles.
While Robbie is phenomenal as Harley, she's had a tough time of it on the big screen thus far. Many fans complained about the sexualised depiction of the character in David Ayer's Suicide Squad, while Birds of Prey ended up being a commercial disappointment for Warner Bros.
The Suicide Squad will be released in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6th, 2021.