The Suicide Squad director James Gunn confirms the movie’s rating

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad
(Image credit: IMDb)

It’s official – The Suicide Squad is getting an R rating. 

When asked directly about the movie’s rating on Twitter, director James Gunn replied: “Yes it’s rated R.” This will make The Suicide Squad the second R-rated movie in the DCEU, after 2020’s Margot Robbie-fronted Birds of Prey.

Although it’s been long speculated that the sort-of-sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad would be rated R, it hadn’t been confirmed until Gunn’s tweet. And, after all, the same thing was said about the original movie, and that ended up with a PG-13 rating (a 12A in the UK). There isn’t a direct equivalent to an R rating in the UK, but movies with this classification are usually rated 15 across the pond. 

We still don’t know that much about Gunn’s reboot-slash-sequel, but the director has previously confirmed that no character is safe, and not even Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is guaranteed to emerge unscathed. Alongside Robbie, returning cast members from the 2016 movie include Jai Courtney as Boomerang, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. There’ll be some new faces too, including Idris Elba, John Cena, and Pete Davidson as Bloodsport, Peacemaker, and Blackguard, respectively. 

That’s not all – we’re getting a Suicide Squad spin-off TV show on HBO Max about Cena’s Peacemaker sometime soon, too. Also helmed by Gunn, he teased the start of filming back in November.

The Suicide Squad is set for release in cinemas and on HBO Max on August 6 2021. In the meantime, you can catch up on the rest of the DCEU with help from our guide to watching the DC movies in order.

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.