Joel Kinnaman Will Not Return In James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’

Joel Kinnaman will not be returning as Rick Flagg for James Gunn’s Suicide Squad.

The news regarding Joel Kinnaman comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the story today. You might recall that James Gunn, the director of both Guardians of the Galaxy films for Marvel Studios, was recently let go by Disney for a series of inappropriate tweets he sent out almost a decade ago. It was recently reported that Gunn would take over the Suicide Squad franchise for Warner Bros. and DC from its original director David Ayer and that Gunn’s new film, The Suicide Squad, would feature almost an entirely new slate of characters from the roster of DC Comics.

This update, as well as recent personnel shifts over at Warner Bros and DC, see to cement those earlier reports as James Gunn seems to have axed David Ayer’s take on the Rick Flagg character from his film and consequentially actor Joel Kinnaman. Last week, Suicide Squad star Will Smith and the studio amicably parted ways and the actor will not be returning for James Gunn. The Hollywood Reporter also notes that Idris Elba is in talks to replace Will Smith as the marquee name on The Suicide Squad. Elba is reportedly James Gunn’s first choice to lead the ensemble project.

The changing of the guard fits the source material. In the comics, the Suicide Squad was continually featuring an ever-changing lineup of villains and anti-heroes from the DC universe.

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: The Hollywood Reporter