RUMOR: Idris Elba Is Playing Deathstroke In James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’

One of the most exciting new projects in the DC Extended Universe is The Suicide Squad, a reimagining of the DC Comics supervillain team to be written and directed by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy). Idris Elba is set to join the star-studded cast and according to a new rumor, he may be playing Deathstroke in the highly-anticipated film.

Barstool Sports’ Robbie Fox heard some interesting information regarding the identity of Idris Elba’s character in The Suicide Squad. Fox tweeted the following, which will certainly get fans excited to speculate:

Geeks Worldwide also dropped an exclusive report, claiming that the James Gunn film is currently searching for an actress to play the daughter of the Idris Elba character. The report also speculates on whether Idris Elba would be playing Deathstroke, who has a daughter named Rose Wilson or Sportsmaster.

Idris Elba was revealed to be in-talks to join The Suicide Squad after Will Smith was announced not to return to reprise his role as Deadshot. Idris Elba was originally set to take over as Deadshot, but now the actor’s role will be repurposed for the film, leaving the door open for a possible return for Will Smith in the future.

As far as Deathstroke is concerned, Joe Manganiello was set to play Deathstroke in the DC Extended Universe for quite sometime, even appearing in the post-credits scene for Justice League in which he meets with Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) to potentially form a team of supervillains. Deathstroke was also reported to be the villain of The Batman when Ben Affleck was still attached to co-write/direct the film before departing the project and the DCEU altogether.

If Idris Elba is indeed playing Deathstroke in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, this would serve as an interesting sign that DC Films is not stressing too much over continuity and is allowing its current crop of filmmakers to put their own spin on the characters, continuity be damned.

This past Summer, Disney parted ways with James Gunn after several offensive tweets he wrote years ago resurfaced. About three months after that happened, Gunn signed on to write the next Suicide Squad movie for Warner Bros. Disney recently reinstated James Gunn as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but that project won’t begin production until the filmmaker completes The Suicide Squad, which is expected to begin filming this September.

The first Suicide Squad followed a team of supervillains who were recruited by the government for a dangerous black ops mission in exchange for reduced sentences. The ensemble cast included Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller and Jared Leto as The Joker. It earned mixed reviews at best, but became a massive hit for Warner Bros. with a worldwide gross of $746.8 million.

The Suicide Squad by James Gun is one of many projects currently being developed by Warner Bros. and DC. The list also includes The Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern Corps, Birds of Prey, Black Adam, Nightwing, Supergirl and New Gods.

James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is set to hit theaters on August 6, 2021.

Source: Robbie Fox