Things are getting confusing for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.
Back in March, it was reported that Idris Elba had joined the cast as Deadshot to replace Will Smith, who left the project back in February. Now, according to Variety, the actor will not be playing Deadshot, but another as-yet-unspecified character. The move is reportedly an effort by Warner Bros. to leave the door open for Smith to return for a potential sequel down the road.
What’s more, it’s been confirmed that Viola Davis will return to the fold as tough-as-nails government agent Amanda Waller. Her involvement, coupled with the fact that Margot Robbie and Jai Courtney are also expected to reprise their respective roles as Harley Quinn and Captain Boomerang, makes you wonder if this will even be much of a reboot anymore.
If you recall, the project was previously described as a “relaunch” as opposed to a direct “sequel”, and that Gunn had every intention in going “in a new direction” with “a mostly all-new cast of characters and actors.” Granted, that could still be the case, though with Gunn being called back to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, perhaps Warner Bros. wants to keep things uniform?
We’ll see as production is set to begin this fall for a far-far away release date of August 6th, 2021. Fortunately, we have plenty of DC titles to keep us preoccupied, from the one-off Joker movie this October to next year’s Birds of Prey. Wonder Woman 1984, too!
