Borys Kit over at The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision column is bringing the gospel with actor Idris Elba circling the role of Deadshot for James Gunn’s sequel follow-up, The Suicide Squad. The report stipulates that as Elba and Gunn hit it off last week on Friday, the actor was the first choice following the departure of Will Smith who portrayed the role for David Ayer’s first installment in 2016.
Also elucidated in the report is that Gunn, who now segues from his position at Disney’s Marvel feature film roster – leaving behind his script for a third Guardians Of The Galaxy which still needs a director – will use mostly new characters apart from Deadshot, including a possible return of actress Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Robbie is set to reprise the role in Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) for which cameras are already rolling ahead of a February 7, 2020 release.
The Suicide Squad is dated for an August 2021 rollout while Elba returns to the big screen this August 2nd opposite Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham in David Leitch’s Fast And Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw from Universal Pictures.
Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.