Why James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad Had To Be Rated R

We have seen the comic book genre evolve and mature over the years — to the point where an R-rated comic book adaptation isn’t as rare of a concept as it once might have been. Typically, superhero blockbusters are meant to appeal to all audiences, young and old. But when the material calls for a grittier, dirtier approach, then movies like Logan, Deadpool, Joker and more fight to get that R rating, and often succeed. This also is the case with James Gunn’s upcoming The Suicide Squad, a standalone movie that is neither a sequel to the 2017 version directed by David Ayer, nor a reboot of that story. It’s merely a standalone film that Gunn conceived and pitched to DC and Warner Bros., and we learned on the set that from Day One, Gunn meant this is be R rated.