Warner Bros. has reportedly engaged in early talks with filmmaker Mel Gibson to direct the studio's Suicide Squad sequel. No formal offer has been issued yet, but Mel Gibson is reportedly "familiarizing himself" with the source material. Warner Bros. is also considering other filmmakers. Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) is one of the other directors the studio is eyeing, though it isn't clear how many other filmmakers are in the mix for this coveted gig.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news today, revealing that the studio is not "being passive" in regards to this sequel. Many fans wondered if this would even happen at all, after Suicide Squad director David Ayer came aboard to direct another Warner Bros./DC project, Gotham City Sirens, which features Margot Robbie reprising her Suicide Squad role as Harley Quinn. A report from December revealed that a Suicide Squad sequel is still in the works, although it was believed at the time that David Ayer would simply make Gotham City Sirens first, before moving on to Suicide Squad 2.

A report from August claimed that David Ayer started writing the Suicide Squad 2 screenplay back in July, with Warner Bros. planning a spring 2017 shoot for the superhero sequel. However, Jai Courtney, who played Captain Boomerang in last summer's Suicide Squad, revealed in an interview that he hasn't heard anything about reprising his role for Suicide Squad 2. It also remains to be seen if Jared Leto will be back as The Joker, since he was reportedly quite unhappy with how his character turned out in Suicide Squad.

Much like Warner Bros.' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad was torn to shreds by critics, but still fared well at the box office, earning $325.1 million domestically and $745.6 million worldwide, from a $175 million budget. There have also been rumors that Warner Bros. may be taking an R-rated approach to Suicide Squad 2, which is most likely due to the success of Deadpool, which managed to out-gross Suicide Squad with $363 million domestic and $783.1 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing R-rated film worldwide in cinematic history.

Suicide Squad 2 is expected to bring back all of the main stars, although there has been talk of a Deadshot spin-off as well. That isn't set in stone. If Mel Gibson does in fact come aboard to direct this superhero sequel, it will be just another example that his star is finally on the rise once again. After his critically-acclaimed biopic Hacksaw Ridge was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, the actor/filmmaker's schedule started to fill up. He recently signed to co-star in Paramount's comedy sequel Daddy's Home 2 and he is also re-teaming with his Hacksaw Ridge star Vince Vaughn in Dragged Across Concrete.