These Characters Didn’t Return for James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad'

It's always a bummer whenever your favorite character isn't present in a sequel or remake of a beloved movie franchise. Like the fact that Keanu Reeves wasn't in Speed 2: Cruise Control, or Street Kings 2, or just isn't put in every movie ever made because he's one of the most delightful people ever.

So when news broke out that James Gunn was directing a new Suicide Squad feature, Will Smith fans wanted to know if Deadshot was going to be in the sort of sequel, sort of remake of 2016's Suicide Squad.

No, he's not. And Idris Elba isn't replacing the Hancock actor's role either. Idris's character is Bloodsport (I know, similar sounding name, also played by a prominent Black actor who is ridiculously good-looking and talented). On paper, he kind of sounds almost exactly like Deadshot — he's skilled in hand-to-hand combat and loves using knives and explosives.

Bloodsport is also a contract killer, like Deadshot, who was incarcerated after trying to kill Superman with a kryptonite bullet and failing to do so. Well, he got close — he was able to put the Man of Steel into the ICU after all.

OK, so we've got a few people returning from the first cast. Margot Robbie reprises her role as Harley Quinn, along with Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), and Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), who is the commanding officer of Task Force X.

New to the screen in the franchise is Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), Javelin (Flula Borg), Weasel (Sean Gunn), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), TDK (Nathan Fillion), Mongal (Mayling Ng), Savant (Michael Rooker), Blackguard (Pete Davidson), Sol Soria (Alice Braga), The Thinker (Peter Capaldi), Peacemaker (John Cena), and of course, Bloodsport.

There were a lot of rumors as to why Will Smith's character wasn't in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, from purported pre-production drama to a flat-out snub by James Gunn.

The truth is, however, that Will couldn't film simply because of a conflicting schedule. That's it.

Screen Rant chatted with producer Peter Safran about Will's absence from James's take on the villains-turned-heroes franchise, and here's what he had to say: "I think the 'Will' 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 [of the Galaxy 3]."

Peter added: "So it was really important that we started shooting when we started shooting, and Will wasn't available. 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."

When asked if Bloodsport's role was originally meant to be Deadshot in the flick, he stated that "it was certainly a discussion" for the film, but ultimately Bloodsport became the lead.

James Gunn's The Suicide Squad is getting heaps of praise, as well. Early reviews of the film are in, and people are gobbling it up.

Critics have also stated that the movie certainly earns its R-rating, so keep that in mind when you decide to go out and watch it with your parents. Unless they're like, you know, totally cool.

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