We’ve been hearing for a while now that James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad will serve a soft reboot for the series that will bring in a mostly new cast, but one character that the Guardians of the Galaxy helmsman’s script had apparently planned on including was Deadshot. And with Variety reporting last night that Will Smith has exited from the role due to scheduling conflicts, it seems that Warner Bros. may be in a slightly awkward position.
Journalist Justin Kroll, who first broke the story of Smith’s departure, took to Twitter with a brief side-note, saying that execs at Warner are now deciding whether to recast the role of Deadshot or replace him with a different character entirely.
Depending on how much Gunn’s script demands the presence of Deadshot for its story, switching him out for a new character may not be the worst idea. After all, The Suicide Squad was already supposed to be a fresh start for the series with few connections to the commercially successful but critically panned first film, and besides, those who enjoyed the 2016 Suicide Squad may not be too keen on seeing someone new in the role.
Either way, it seems we can count Smith as one more star of the DCEU’s early years who hasn’t made it into the post-Justice League era. Granted, the jury’s still technically out on Henry Cavill’s future as Superman, but Ben Affleck’s Batman is already in the process of being recast with a younger actor to represent the Caped Crusader in his early years. But for all these departures, it’s expected that Harley Quinn will still be making her return when The Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 6th, 2021.