Director James Gunn was able to apply more of his heartfelt sincerity to the Guardians films, along with his big imagination, allowing him to create some truly memorable images. Meanwhile, The Suicide Squad let him cut loose with some classic violence from his “Troma” days, as well as getting to include his morbid sense of humor.
After directing Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad, James Gunn has proven that he is more than capable of creating big budget superhero blockbusters. Whether a film is based on Marvel or DC Comics, Gunn can flesh out any number of characters and storylines. The director also has a knack for combining over-the-top action, comedy, and some emotional or tragic elements in his films.
Both the Guardians series and The Suicide Squad each have similar themes, such as a group of outlaws and criminals working together, as well as the lack of trust between members of each group, which slowly develops as they face hardships, conflict, some laughs, and dangerous missions together. There’s also some personal history or background of each character, especially involving those who’ve lost a family member or loved one. However, while the Guardians films are fun and engaging in the vein of a space epic like Star Wars, The Suicide Squad is more dark and cynical combined with black comedy, reminiscent of post-apocalyptic films such as Escape From New York and Escape From L.A., and monster B-movies like Gunn’s own Slither.
The Guardians films are intriguing like the Star Wars series in the sense that characters are placed in far away dimensions of space and time, allowing spectators to view exotic locations and rugged worlds outside of Earth. Gunn also enjoys depicting unique animals and creatures, large and small, such as the charismatically hilarious raccoon named Rocket and the tree-like figure Groot, to show that they can coexist with human beings, even though they are constantly mocked.
There’s also Peter Quill (aka Starlord), who, like Harrison Ford’s legendary Han Solo character, is both charismatic and arrogant as a bounty hunter who gets paid by selling valuable merchandise to dangerous people. Of course, the character starts out as a selfish guy who only intends to look out for his own interests, such as turning in the Orb (a special artifact) in order to make some money. Gamora and Drax are well-trained fighters who are each seeking vengeance against those who killed their families (Ronan and Thanos).
The Guardians begin as selfless individuals, cracking jokes about each other’s appearances and occasionally bad mouthing each other. However, when they work together, they slowly become mutually invested in helping each other to destroy the Orb since it can be used as a weapon by Ronan and other villains who want to lay destruction on the entire galaxy. The Guardians also influence and learn from each other, such as Quill sharing his knowledge of Earth, including his favorite music from his walkman, how to dance, and his favorite actor, David Hasselhoff (Knight Rider).
While Guardians was a space epic filled with camaraderie and optimism, The Suicide Squad is much darker in nature, and the comedy results from graphic bloody violence and characters being cynical to each other most of the time. The Guardians may have started out as outlaws and criminals looking out only for their own interests, but they learn to work together not by force, but by coming to an understanding that they can become heroes who are capable of defeating evil and defending the galaxy. The Suicide Squad, on the other hand, are forced by the government to take on dangerous assignments when they are called upon.
Robert DuBois aka Bloodsport is reminiscent of Kurt Russell’s anti-hero, Snake Plissken, from John Carpenter’s Escape films because he’s a pessimistic man and an elite assassin who lost all faith in humanity, and trusts no one, even though there is some good in him without fully admitting it. Amanda Waller uses Bloodsport and her squad the same way the government uses Plissken: if the convicts are unable to complete their mission, they will be killed in an extreme manner (and these films aren’t hesitant in taking out major characters).
Gunn’s new take on the squad also includes elements of a Cold War conspiracy thriller since the plot revolves around the U.S. government trying to cover up their involvement with a deadly experiment that risked the lives of many, and could negatively (and fatally) affect the world. In this case, Waller orders the squad to destroy classified documents based on a monstrous starfish that can kill every living thing, which leads to two members of the squad, Rick Flag and Peacemaker, going against each other. Flag is a soldier who believes the truth should come out to the public, while Peacemaker is a killer ordered by Waller to destroy the information and the facility conducting experiments on the creature. The distrust surrounding Waller and the squad is a dark representation of everything that’s wrong with the government, and how dangerous people can be used as expendable assets in order for the government to cover up their mistakes.
The Suicide Squad also has monster B-movie tropes, containing creatures more lethal and grotesque than the light-hearted ones like Groot in Guardians, such as Nanaue/King Shark, who is able to warm up to the squad, but is deadly when it comes to eating people and biting off heads. Weasel is a loud and strange animal who can’t swim and, according to Flag, has eaten several children. The gigantic starfish, Starro the Conqueror, is similar to the ugly infectious monster in Gunn’s first horror/comedy feature, Slither, since it can spread into smaller parts of itself, killing and infecting many people at the same time.
Gunn combines space wars and camaraderie between thieves in the Guardians films, while The Suicide Squad tackles extreme convicts who are caught between government control/corruption and a giant monster. While both superhero franchises cover different themes, they each have characters who start out as enemies but later become heroes and friends in order to save the universe. If there’s a director who can take on both Marvel and DC Comics, Gunn is the filmmaker who should be hired due to his visual creativity, his use of complex settings, and embracing the idea that characters labeled as freaks can take on the world.
