In another universe not far removed from the one we’re living in, Will Smith’s Deadshot could have been in The Suicide Squad. It just didn’t pan out. This comes from the movie’s producer, Peter Safran, who reveals that there were discussions to bring the actor back for director James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy latest entry in the franchise.
The Suicide Squad is set to arrive in theaters and on HBO Max next month. Not quite a full-on reboot, as several characters from 2016’s Suicide Squad are returning, and not quite a sequel as Warner Bros. has made that clear, it’s a unique beast. But Will Smith is a big star and there was at least one point when he would have come back as Deadshot to lead Task Force X yet again. Here’s what Peter Safran had to say about it in a recently published interview.
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“We discussed it. But I think the Will [Smith] 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, and 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.”
Peter Safran also said that Deadshot “could have been” in a leadership role had things gone another way. Instead, Idris Elba was brought in as something of a replacement. Originally, it was reported that Elba would take over as Deadshot. Instead, some changes were made to the script and Elba is playing an entirely different character, Bloodsport. That at least leaves the door cracked open for Smith to return to the DC movie universe at some point.
Deadshot, alongside the likes of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, who is returning in the upcoming movie, was a huge part of director David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. While the movie was not well-liked critically, it was hugely successful, taking in $746 million globally. At one point, Warner Bros. was even developing a Deadshot solo movie. Though that seems to have been scrapped as zero official updates have been provided on that front in some time.
James Gunn will soon return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as he is going to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 next. Marvel and Disney had originally fired him from the job after some old, controversial tweets resurfaced, only to reverse their decision later. But that paved the way for him to take a crack at the DCEU. To that end, he is currently filming Peacemaker for HBO Max. The series will serve as a spin-off of the movie set in the same universe centered on John Cena’s character of the same name. The Suicide Squad is set to arrive in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6. This news was previously reported by Comicbook.com.
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