The Suicide Squad’s Idris Elba signed on to work with writer/director James Gunn without knowing which character he’d be playing. Following the lackluster reception of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad (2016), Warner Bros./DC brought in Gunn—best known for his work on the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise—to helm the DCEU’s spiritual reboot/sequel. The Suicide Squad sees new and old characters join a different Task Force X; including Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, John Cena’s Peacemaker and Elba’s Robert DuBois, a.k.a. Bloodsport.
In anticipation of its release in August, the most recent trailer for The Suicide Squad revealed more details about Elba’s Bloodsport. The mercenary is incarcerated for shooting Superman with a Kryptonite bullet and putting him in the ICU. Bloodsport’s prime motivation for joining Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) task force has something to do with his daughter’s criminal record. While the film is largely an ensemble piece, Bloodsport is one of its most prominent characters. When Elba was cast, no one, not even Elba, knew who he’d be playing. Many incorrectly assumed Will Smith’s Deadshot was being rebooted.
In an interview with Esquire Middle East, Elba spoke on signing up to be a part of The Suicide Squad. According to the actor, all he knew going in was that it was being written and directed by James Gunn. He didn’t need to know what character he’d be playing or any of the details—the director’s reputation preceded him. Read what Elba had to say below:
"I signed on because I really wanted to work with James,” said Elba. “He's a genius, I think. I really was so touched and honored that someone of his talent was really keen to work with me, even though we didn't have a necessary roadmap of who the character was. I very quickly invested in the exploration of that, because we could go anywhere.”
Elba went on to reassert how his character was never meant to be a replacement for Smith’s character in the first movie. Initially, not even Gunn knew who he’d be playing. Piggybacking off the concept behind John Ostrander's '80s comic book, Gunn wanted to draw from the deepest darkest corners of the DC rogues gallery to assemble The Suicide Squad. As he did with Chris Pratt and Starlord, Gunn’s goal was to have Elba adapt a character casual moviegoers weren’t necessarily familiar with and make it his own. Ultimately, they settled on an homage to '80s action heroes in Bloodsport.
Rumors that Elba was playing Deadshot were exacerbated by production keeping his role a secret for as long as possible. In the script and on Elba’s chair, he was listed as “Vigilante”—a character that will be appearing in Gunn’s Peacemaker spinoff series. Similar to Smith’s Deadshot, Bloodsport appears to be a leader of rogues and misfits. His story looks to be a redemptive one, which may mirror that of The Suicide Squad’s director. When Disney briefly (and questionably) fired Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, WB called Gunn to offer him several DCEU movies. Given its potential as an R-rated entity, he chose The Suicide Squad. Early reactions to Gunn’s film have deemed it profane, outlandish, unpredictable, and fantastic—a reflection of the unrestrained genius behind it.
Source: Esquire Middle East