Why was Will Smith not back as Deadshot in The Suicide Squad? Plus, another character set to appear and new clips released

While The Suicide Squad features the return of several characters from the first movie including Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller, one of the most notable absences was Will Smith’s Floyd Lawton AKA Deadshot.

While many believed that Idris Elba’s casting early on may have been a replacement Deadshot, recasting Smith, it turned out that, no, he’s playing Bloodsport – although with his joining the squad because he is being forced to by Waller by threatening his daughter, you could argue he is very similar – so, we were all wondering why Smith wasn’t back… after all, he was a big hit in the first movie and his star power is undeniable.

Well, it seems, it’s a simple matter of scheduling.

Talking about the movie, producer Peter Safran was keen to point out that, while many faces returned, this is a standalone movie and not a direct sequel to David Ayer’s original movie.

However, if he’s to be believed, it seems that Deadshot was, indeed, set to lead the team again.

“We discussed it,” he says when asked about Smith returning. “But it was… I think the ‘Will’ of it all was really more of a schedule thing than anything else. We knew we had to start shooting in September because, frankly, we knew probably earlier than other people did that James was going to come back and do Guardians. So it was really important that we started shooting when we started shooting, and Will wasn’t available. That kind of made it easier all around: what are you going to do? He’s not available. So it’s also nice to, frankly, help separate it from the first movie, I think, in a greater fashion.”

In the new movie, Elba’s Bloodsport if the leader of the team… was that meant to be Deadshot originally? “It could have been,” Safran replied, “It was certainly a discussion.”

So, there you have it, it seems that Smith was indeed meant to return, but I’ll not complain as I love Elba and it means there’s yet another cool DC character now in the DCEU.

And speaking of cool characters, it seems that, while not part of the squad (this time anyway), the movie will have writer/director James Gunn’s brother, Sean Gunn, cameoing as Julian Gregory Day AKA Calendar Man, one of Batman’s more out there villains who uses holidays as a means to commit crime:

Calendar Man was recently featured in the animated movie The Long Halloween Part One – played by The Suicide Squad star David Dastmalchian – and proved that, just like in the comic, any villain, if written well, can play a great role… could this open the door to a Long Halloween on the big screen? We can but dream…

Oh, and we also have a weird new clip featuring Nathan Fillion as TDK (The Detachable Kid):

Nathan Fillion’s The Detachable Kid stars in a new clip from ‘THE SUICIDE SQUAD’.

(Source: @IGN) pic.twitter.com/wGj3g1ymAm

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 23, 2021

King Shark steps up in new clip:

king shark is SO ADORABLE PLEAASE!!! #TheSuicideSquad pic.twitter.com/JXf7tAKcmC

— mel (@meljest3r) July 22, 2021

From writer/director James Gunn comes Warner Bros. Pictures’ superhero action-adventure “The Suicide Squad,” featuring a collection of the most degenerate delinquents in the DC lineup.

Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.

The film stars Margot Robbie (“Birds of Prey,” “Bombshell”), Idris Elba (“Avengers: Infinity War”), John Cena (upcoming HBO Max series “Peacemaker,” “Bumblebee”), Joel Kinnaman (“Suicide Squad”), Jai Courtney (the “Divergent” franchise), Peter Capaldi (“World War Z,” BBC’s “Doctor Who” ), David Dastmalchian (upcoming “Dune,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp”), Daniela Melchior (“Parque Mayer”), Michael Rooker (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films), Alice Braga (“Elysium”), Pete Davidson (“The King of Staten Island,” TV’s “Saturday Night Live”), Joaquín Cosio (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” TV’s “Narcos: Mexico”), Juan Diego Botto (“The Europeans”), Storm Reid (“The Invisible Man,” “A Wrinkle in Time”, “Euphoria”), Nathan Fillion (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” TV’s “The Rookie”), Steve Agee (“Brightburn,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”), Sean Gunn (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, the “Avengers” films), Mayling Ng (“Wonder Woman”), Flula Borg (“Ralph Breaks the Internet”), Jennifer Holland (“Brightburn,” upcoming HBO Max series “Peacemaker”) and Tinashe Kajese (TV’s “Valor,” “The Inspectors”), with Sylvester Stallone (the “Rocky,” “Rambo” and “Expendables” franchises), and Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Suicide Squad”).

Gunn (the “Guardian of the Galaxy” films) directs from his own screenplay, based on characters from DC. The film is produced by Charles Roven and Peter Safran, with Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Walter Hamada, Chantal Nong Vo, Nikolas Korda and Richard Suckle executive producing.

Gunn’s creative team includes director of photography Henry Braham (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”), production designer Beth Mickle (“Captain Marvel”), editors Fred Raskin (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood”) and Christian Wagner (the “Fast & Furious” films) and Oscar-nominated costume designer Judianna Makovsky (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2,” “Avengers: Endgame,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”). The music is by John Murphy (“Kick-Ass”).

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents An Atlas Entertainment/Peter Safran Production, A James Gunn Film, “The Suicide Squad.” The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is set for release nationwide in theaters and IMAX on August 6, 2021 and will be available on HBO Max’s Ad-Free plan for 31 days from theatrical release.

Source: Screenrant