No stranger to showcasing that which inspires him, The Suicide Squad chief James Gunn has uncovered the influence behind one of the film’s numerous scenes. Gunn’s interpretation of Task Force X serves as a soft-reboot-come-sequel of David Ayer’s fundamentally panned Suicide Squad from 2016. Ayer has since been open about how studio interference from Warner Bros. incredibly affected his vision for the film; in any case, with The Suicide Squad, Gunn was supposedly given free-rein. This included not being committed to bring back any characters from the original film, albeit several are returning, including Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag. This opportunity has seemingly empowered Gunn to make something which, according to early reviews, feels incredibly special and permitted the chief to influence the DC Extended Universe.
Now, Gunn has uncovered another influence that served as the inspiration behind one scene specifically. The scene in question is that of Kinnaman’s Rick Flag, Idris Elba’s Bloodsport and John Cena’s Peacemaker in casual clothing walking away from an auto crash while equipped with tons of weaponry. Posting on his Instagram, Gunn explained that the shot “was inspired by a Gil Cohen painting I have in my house, the front of an old mash novel called ‘Capable Team.'” You can look at Gunn’s post down underneath:
Capable Team was a series of mash action-experience novels written in the 1980s by various authors using the pseudonym, Dick Stivers. The gathering were previous Vietnam War soldiers who worked for a highly confidential enemy of terrorist organization on various missions, not dissimilar to the A-Team, and indeed not excessively dissimilar from the Suicide Squad themselves. Looking at the painting, one can easily see what the craftsmanship meant for Gunn for the scene, even down to Kinnaman’s radiant yellow shirt – albeit sadly without the Tom Selleck-esque mustache.
It’s always fun when directors straightforwardly share where they’ve drawn their inspiration from. Considering the tumultuous action that The Suicide Squad is being praised for, almost certainly, there will be a lot more such influences scattered all through the film. With Gunn as amped up for the undertaking as he appears, the chief will without a doubt be just as forthcoming while discussing them on social media in the coming weeks. Fans will just need to delay until The Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 6 to see in the event that they can spot more.