Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flagg is one of just a handful of characters to crossover from David Ayer’s Suicide Squad into James Gunn’s new take on the team, but it seems the two experiences couldn’t have been more different. At a press conference attended by The Digital Fix, Kinnaman was asked about the differences between the two action movies, and he said it was a “completely new experience.”
“Well, you know we had a good script. I was so happy to do this new version of Flagg that James wrote. I got to spread my comedic wings. It was the second time I’ve done it, but it felt like the first time,” Kinnaman said. “James and I had a couple of conversations early on, and we decided we weren’t going to be bound by what we did in the first film and just let this be a new experience. I had so much fun with it, it was a completely new experience, and it felt like a new character.”
Kinnaman wasn’t the only Squad member who enjoyed exploring a new side to an old character. Margot Robbie said she enjoyed making the film as it allowed her to explore sides of the Harley Quinn character that she hadn’t necessarily had the opportunity to before.
“I loved getting to play Harley in the mindset of single and ready to mingle. She’s either been very committed to [The Joker] or fresh out of a break-up with Mr J, and James put in a lot of very funny potential love interests throughout the film, so that was fun,” Margot said. “Also to play a Harley who was in mission mode and anytime she’s in a new group there’s always something fun and new to do because she reacts differently depending on who the team are.”
Despite not being invited back to make the sequel, and alleging that Warners interfered with Suicide Squad (2016), David Ayer has been quite supportive of this new take on the team. Gunn told Kevin McCarthy that he’d been in touch with Ayer, saying: “I’m grateful for everything [Ayer’s] done for me. He’s been just a completely stand-up great guy from the beginning from the moment it was announced I was doing this movie.”
The Suicide Squad sees a new team of villains, and a few old faces, sent on a dangerous mission to infiltrate the island of Corto Maltese. Once there, they’re tasked with apprehending the villainous Thinker and putting a stop to Project Starfish. Sounds simple enough, or it would be if they weren’t all criminals…
The Suicide Squad is in theatres now.