James Gunn envisioned 'The Suicide Squad' as 'ultimate all-time comic movie'

July 22 (UPI) -- The Suicide Squad writer and director James Gunn says he envisioned the film as "the ultimate all-time comic book movie."

The 54-year-old writer, director and producer discussed the upcoming DC Extended Universe film during Wednesday's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Gunn appeared on the show with The Suicide Squad stars Margot Robbie and John Cena, who play Harley Quinn and Peacemaker in the new movie. Jimmy Kimmel Live! guest host Anthony Anderson asked Gunn what his vision was for the film.

"Well, really, I just wanted to do the ultimate, all-time comic book movie," Gunn said. "Create the Suicide Squad, based on one of my favorite comic books of all time by John Ostrander, about a group of really crappy supervillains -- some of the worst supervillains in the world, sorry John -- who are being used as fodder by the U.S. government in black ops missions."

"This group of supervillains goes to Corto Maltese, a fictional island off the coast of Argentina, to try to stop an insurrection," he added.

Gunn, Robbie and Cena showed a new clip from The Suicide Squad that showed the team on a rescue mission to save Harley Quinn (Robbie).

Warner Bros. released a trailer for The Suicide Squad in June that shows Bloodsport (Idris Elba) in prison for shooting Superman.

The Suicide Squad is a standalone sequel to Suicide Squad (2016). The film co-stars Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, Sylvester Stallone as King Shark, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Peter Capaldi as The Thinker and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller.

Cena will also place Peacemaker in the upcoming HBO Max series Peacemaker. Cena described the character as "a douchey, bro-y Captain America" during an interview on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon in February.

"This is actually Peacemaker's house, and on the contrary, Peacemaker's like a polar opposite of Bruce Wayne, where Bruce Wayne would be a billionaire with a bat cave. I live in a single-wide and this is my outfit," Cena said. "So it's a bit of an interesting story and a bit of a new tale."

The Suicide Squad opens in theaters Aug. 5.