Idris Elba Reveals Why His Character’s Identity In ‘The Suicide Squad’ Was A Secret
Bloodsport actor Idris Elba has revealed why his character’s identity was kept a secret during the development of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.
One of the first big pieces of news to come out of the development of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad was the reveal that Idris Elba was joining the film’s cast. The actor was originally set to replace Will Smith as Deadshot before it was decided that he would play a new character altogether. It then became a guessing game as to which character Elba would play, with theories ranging from Vigilante to Bronze Tiger.
Last year during the DC FanDome event, we were given our first official look at James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and it was revealed that Idris Elba would be playing an almost completely unknown character known as Bloodsport. In one of the film’s trailers, it was revealed that, like in the comics, the character was put in prison for shooting Superman with a Kryptonite bullet. While speaking to ComicBook.com, Idris Elba talked about the rumors and why the identity of the character was such as secret. According to Elba, for a while, they didn’t know who he was going to play and wanted to make sure it was right before giving his role a name:
“It wasn’t more of a deception. We just needed to give it a name because we didn’t know what character from the DC Universe we were going to use. So, Vigilante just felt like a good red herring for anyone that was being nosy. And, ultimately, we really wanted to get the character right and figure out who makes sense to be in this version of the Suicide Squad. So, listen, I’m glad that people were surprised because the Deadshot character is an incredible character and should come back.”
What do you all think of Idris Elba’s explanation? Do you think Bloodsport’s identity should have been kept secret for so long? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
You can check out the synopsis for the James Gunn film below:
Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission, with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.
Written and directed by James Gunn, The Suicide Squad stars David Dastmalchian, John Cena, Jai Courtney, Joaquín Cosío, Nathan Fillion, Joel Kinnaman, Mayling Ng, Flula Borg, Sean Gunn, Juan Diego Botto, Storm Reid, Pete Davidson, Taika Waititi, Alice Braga, Steve Agee, Tinashe Kajese, Daniela Melchior, Peter Capaldi, Julio Ruiz, Jennifer Holland, Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Margot Robbie, and Michael Rooker.
The Suicide Squad is currently scheduled to hit theaters and HBO Max on August 6, 2021. Stay tuned for all the latest news surrounding the upcoming film and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.
Source: Comicbook.com