Remember the guy from Mad Max and the Lethal Weapon series: Mel Gibson…

Maybe Mel will be in the picture, somewhere! He is directing the film.

Wow, and they say that life sometimes imitates art, but the conversation and criticism surrounding the DC Extended Universe has taken things to a new level.

Batman v Superman created a version of the Dark Knight unsure of his own future against increasingly powerful and insurmountable opposition. So, too, has Ben Affleck (reportedly) reconsidered his role in the DCEU against waves of criticism.

And then we have Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel faced off against a world that wasn’t ready to accept him, the director encountered waves of criticism that suggested what Superman should be instead.

And with Suicide Squad making unlikely heroes of criminals society neither cared about nor understood, the film proved to be one of WB’s biggest commercial hits thus far despite a critical whipping.

Now that Suicide Squad 2 has become a no-brainer sequel, despite critics and the online media (you can hear the howls of despair) sure to view it with the same suspicion and doubts as the first film.

Culturedemandsgeeks loves a great redemption story, and the most bizarre story to blitz its way out of Tinsel town could be Mel Gibson directing Suicide Squad 2!

Ready! Camera! Action!

The immediate reaction (again, howls of despair), given the director’s past comments and personal troubles, is to dismiss him just as quickly. But if we’re not going to make an effort to separate art from the people who are making it, then it’s hard to argue that Mel Gibson isn’t the right director for Suicide Squad 2 – a film hoping to prove itself in more ways than one

Can Mel make the biggest, badass squad in the universe a whole lot larger?

Mel Gibson’s latest and trophy-laden film in question – Hacksaw Ridge, the story of a real-life World War II veteran who refused to carry or use a weapon starring Andrew Garfield – has earned six Oscar nominations confirms that film enthusiasts, or those interested in compelling, human stories captured on film do themselves a disservice by not at least attempting to separate Gibson the man from Gibson the director.

Before he became famous for alcohol-fuelled hate speech, and angry statements in his personal life, Gibson had distinguished his artistic talents as an Oscar-winning director with Braveheart. And don’t forget The Passion of the Christ (2004) and Apocalypto (2006).

And now, years later, has delivered yet another Oscar-caliber film. All with little sign of the controversy that plagued his personal life.

The bottom line: a Suicide Squad sequel led by the talents of a director like Mel Gibson stands a high likelihood of being a better (much better) film – or at least an accomplished one, in some sense. Since that sequel will, inevitably, be doubted and derided by the critics who feel it should never have existed in the first place, the focus on Gibson’s personal history over his professional one seems like a pit stop along the way.

If you hate Suicide Squad, then the sequel wasn’t likely to appeal to you either way. If you hate Mel Gibson for things other than the work he’s produced or starred in, then his next film will similarly not be of interest. And so, fans and the studio stand at an empasse: fight the uphill battle with a safe pick, or take the sentiment and philosophy of the film to heart, and seek out the best person for the job, regardless of how much dirt they have in their past. Personally, Mel Gibson could be the perfect director for Suicide Squad 2! What do you think, Culturedemandsgeeks?