Idris Elba To Takeover Deadshot Role For Will Smith In James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’

Idris Elba will reportedly takeover the Deadshot role from Will Smith in the James Gunn directed Suicide Squad sequel.

Will Smith exited the James Gunn directed sequel a few days ago and now it appears the studio has a definite replacement in Idris Elba. According to THR, Idris Elba will replace Will Smith as Deadshot in the film. 

The film is being written and directed by James Gunn. Charles Roven and Peter Safran will produce. It’s expected to begin filming in September.

What do you think about Idris Elba replacing Will Smith? Are you excited for a new actor to take on the Deadshot role? Sound off in the comments section below!

This past summer, Disney decided to part ways with James Gunn and fired him from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after offensive tweets he posted years ago were brought back into the public sphere by alt-right figures who were retaliating against James Gunn due to his political views.  James Gunn, who had submitted a final draft of his Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 screenplay before being removed from the project.

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, and Jared Leto as The Joker, all three of whom were expected to reprise their roles in the sequel. Although Suicide Squad earned mixed reviews, at best, the film became a box office hit for DC with a worldwide gross of $750 million.

The Suicide Squad is one of many projects currently being developed by Warner Bros. and DC Films, including The Batman, The Flash standalone film, Green Lantern Corps, Birds of Prey, Black Adam, Cyborg, Nightwing, Supergirl, New Gods, a Deathstroke film, and a Joker origin movie set outside of the DCEU.

Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for the latest news on all DC projects!

The film will hit theaters August 6th, 2021!

Source: THR