James Gunn previewed a set of poker chips put out by "the guys @SuicideSquadWB HQ" on Twitter today.
Gunn, who is doing promo for his soft-reboot of 2016's Suicide Squad, tweeted the photo of two poker chips. One features his own face and the word "jackpot." The other has a logo for John Cena's character, Peacemaker, from The Suicide Squad (2021). Cena's chip comes with a dollar value of $666.
Gunn refers to wanting to "complete the collection" of chips in his tweet. It is unclear if that indicates that these chips are movie tie-in merchandise or just mementos from his productions that will be available to cast and crew only.
If merchandise, they may still serve merely as collectibles rather than playable chipsets. We may never get to shuffle Idris Elba and Margot Robbie together, while we consider putting it all-in on the river.
The value of Cena's chip certainly suggests that these chips are not intended for play. There aren't a lot of $666-$1,332 NLH tables around. Though anyone who has had to make do with a weird chip set knows how easy it is to ignore the numbers on those things if you do need to assign your own.
The use of chips as merchandise may also indicate some of the unseen content of the film. There's no poker in any of the trailers so far. But these chips might be a sign that we will get to see Sylvester Stallone's CGI character, King Shark, play a hand/fin of cards.
Whatever the purpose of the chips, it is odd that Warner Bros couldn't spring for custom chips from a more fancy line. The chips are clearly custom labels printed for mass-market 14 gram home game chipsets. You would think a movie studio like WB could get in touch with the guys who tricked out the Casino Royale or Solo sets.
It brings on many changes
Gunn has established himself as someone who can walk the line between idiosyncratic and commercially successful. His Guardians of the Galaxy movies were the big surprise hits in the opening phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And his early movies Slither and Super remain cult classics.
"You want to go to work with people who jump out of bed every day and want to go to work," Cena said in a recent interview. "Gunn is the epitome of that. He cares so much about what he’s doing and I think especially when he’s put in a position to write, develop, and do this by his rules essentially. He chose the franchise. He kind of dictated his terms and now he’s really betting on himself and I hope everybody enjoys seeing it as much as we’re enjoying making it because it’s awesome."
Their working partnership might be why Cena's character is the first chip off the block.
The plot of the movie will see Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) return as part of a team of DC's lesser-known villains. The villains, held in Belle Reve prison, are offered time off their sentencing in return for taking on dangerous missions for the U.S. government.
Beyond this set up, specifics of the plot are thin at the moment, but the trailer includes a kaiju-sized starfish, plenty of disposable gun (and fish) fodder, and a tropical setting.
The Suicide Squad will be coming out in theatres and HBO Max simultaneously. That should happen on August 6, 2021. The day after Gunn's 55th birthday.
Featured image source: Twitter
