The Suicide Squad's Idris Elba Reveals Whether He Was Originally Cast to Replace Will Smith as Deadshot

The casting of Idris Elba in The Suicide Squad caused a stir when it was first announced back in 2019. After all, there were speculations that the Thor: Ragnarok star would be taking over the role of Deadshot after Will Smith bowed out of the DC Extended Universe flick.

But was Elba originally cast as the replacement for the Men In Black actor? Elba has just revealed what he had initially discussed with James Gunn.

Initial reports about Elba's involvement in The Suicide Squad strongly suggested that Deadshot was being recast in the film. However, it was later revealed that the Avengers: Infinity War star will be playing a completely different but equally significant character named Bloodsport.

So was Elba ever in discussion to replace Smith? Elba told Entertainment Tonight that he understands why people thought of it.

"Those rumors would be natural because Will said he wasn't joining the second movie, so it was quite natural for audiences or fans to think that I would be taking over the Deadshot character because the Deadshot character lived in the other movie," Elba said. He then added that Gunn never considered recasting Deadshot in the first place.

"I'm really satisfied that James didn't want to do that, I didn't want to do that. Deadshot is a great character and Will slays it, so I was really keen the audience and fans kept that rumor going," Elba said with a laugh.

It's great to know that Gunn and Elba didn't go with a possible recast. After all, it gave Smith the chance to come back as Deadshot in the future when his schedule was no longer too busy. Although Smith's return has not yet been announced, we're looking forward to it in the future.

So will both Deadshot and Bloodsport eventually work together in a third Suicide Squad movie? It's an idea that fans have been wondering about after what happened in Gunn's film. However, it is important to point out that Suicide Squad 3 has not yet been officially announced so it's best to take this with a grain of salt.

The Suicide Squad is now screening in theaters and on HBO Max.

Related: The Suicide Squad Killed [SPOILERS] In Original 'Darker' Ending