'The Suicide Squad’ remove fan-favorite character amid actor's departure

The Suicide Squad has decided to remove one its main characters from their roster. As previously reported, Coachella-performing Idris Elba was expected to take on the role of Deadshot following Will Smith’s decision to not reprise his role.

Now, James Gunn and co. reveal that the decision to remove Deadshot altogether is to give Smith the opportunity to come back in a possible sequel, according to Variety.

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Additionally, the team allegedly did not want to disrespect Smith by recasting his role. While the likelihood of Smith returning to the franchise looks slim, the Suicide Squad team thought it was better to be safe than sorry.

While this news may be disappointing to Elba fans, the film has since decided to cast him in another unspecified role. That said, Elba will be making an appearance in the film regardless.

According to Variety, now only three characters are expected to return to their roles: Margot Robbie as the iconic Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller.

Gunn is reportedly still on the lookout to fill the rest of the cast. However, the Suicide Squad is set to start production this fall, with a slated release of Aug. 6, 2021.

That said, the forthcoming Suicide Squad will not be a sequel, but rather a “total reboot,” according to producer Peter Safran.

“First of all, we don’t call it Suicide Squad 2 ‘cause it’s a total reboot, so it’s The Suicide Squad and I think people should be extremely excited about it,” Safran says. “It’s everything you would hope from a James Gunn script and I think that says a lot and that promises a lot and I know that we will deliver a lot.”

What do you think of the Suicide Squad’s decision to pull Deadshot?  Sound off in the comments below.

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