Taika Waititi in Talks to Appear in ‘Suicide Squad’ Sequel

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Taika Waititi may be coming to the DC Extended Universe. The filmmaker is in negotiations for a role in Warner Bros.’ “The Suicide Squad,” the follow-up to 2016’s “Suicide Squad.”

Warner Bros. had no comment. James Gunn is directing the sequel to the 2016 feature based on the DC Comics anti-heroes. Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney and Viola Davis are reprising their roles and Idris Elba, John Cena, David Dastmalchian and Daniela Melchior have joined the film.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” director Gunn also wrote the script to the project, in which supervillains are recruited by the government to carry out secret missions.

Though it fell flat with critics, the original “Suicide Squad” became a surprise box office sensation when it hit theaters, grossing $746.8 million worldwide. “” will hit theaters on Aug. 6, 2021.

Waititi has directed “Thor: Ragnarok” and will helm the fourth Thor movie, “Thor: Love and Thunder.” He recently directed Fox Searchlight’s “Jojo Rabbit,” a satire about a young boy whose mother houses a Jewish girl to hide her from Nazis. Waititi plays the boy’s imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler. The movie is set to release Oct. 18.

Waititi’s other credits include New Zealand titles “Boy,” “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” and “What We Do in the Shadows,” which he co-directed with Jemaine Clement. He also directed the pilot episode of FX’s series adaptation of “What We Do in the Shadows.” In “Thor: Ragnarok,” he played the character Korg and reprised that role in “Avengers: Endgame.”

Waititi is repped by CAA and Management. The news about “The Suicide Squad” was first reported by Deadline.