2021's The Suicide Squad is bringing Bloodsport to the DCEU and James Gunn brought in a big-name actor for the role in Idris Elba. However, while Bloodsport is getting a major actor taking on the role and appears to play an important part in the movie, he is not a huge player in the world of DC Comics.
Bloodsport isn't even a Suicide Squad member in the comics. Instead, he was a Superman villain. There have been three different men to take on the role of Bloodsport in Superman comics, with the original a tragic story, the second a truly despicable villain, and the third a minor character at best. The character also wasn't in that many stories, but there were a few that are worth checking out to learn more about the new Suicide Squad character.
Superman Vol. 2 #4
Bloodsport first appeared in Superman Vol. 2 #4 by John Byrne. He showed up at a restaurant where Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Lane were having lunch and opened fire on the people eating there, killing several of them. Superman showed up and looked at the massacre in horror. By the time Superman got to Bloodsport, more people had died, and the villain had a weapon created by Lex Luthor that allowed him to pull any gun out of the ether to use.
The end was the kicker. Bloodsport was a man claiming to be a Vietnam War veteran who wanted to hurt the people who turned their backs on veterans. The twist was that it was Bloodsport's brother who was the man who went to war and came back without his arms and legs. Bloodsport was Robert DeBois, a man who dodged the draft and blamed himself for what happened to his brother.
Adventures of Superman #507
Robert DeBois ended up in prison after his massacre in Superman #4, and a new Bloodsport showed up six years later in Adventures of Superman #507 by Karl Kesel and Barry Kitson. While DeBois was a Black man who fought out of shame for what happened to his brother, the new Bloodsport was Alexander Trent, a white supremacist.
His first action in this comic was to walk up to some Black men assaulting a woman and kill them all. He then killed the woman as well, because she was also Black. Superman then had to stop this new villain before he killed again.
Action Comics #694
The story that began in Adventures of Superman #507 continued in Action Comics #694 by Karl Kesel and Jackson Guice, and while this was part two of a four-part series, it marked the end of the line for Bloodsport. The story showed that not only was Bloodsport a white supremacist, but he hated anyone and everyone who wasn't a white male.
This made things tough when he received backup from a woman named Hi-Tech, who had merged with computers to become almost robotic. Bloodsport's single-minded hatred caused him to refuse to work with the woman and he ended up almost killing them both, and eliminating himself from the fight.
Action Comics #702
Superman, and the world, thought Bloodsports had died in Action Comics #694. He didn't die and was still alive and ready to kill more people of color when he showed back up in Action Comics #702. With Bloodsport spilling more innocent blood in the name of his race war, it was one of Superman's allies who helped him stop the villain.
One power that both men who took on the role of Bloodsport had was the ability to teleport a gun to their hands to use it in battle. Daily Planet reporter Ronald Troupe realized that Lex Luthor was likely behind Bloodsport and went to LexCorp, where he discovered the cache of guns, destroying them all and ending the threat of Bloodsport.
Superman: The Man of Steel Vol 1 129
Superman is known to have stories here and there where the comic books take a humanist direction and have the Man of Steel reveal why he is the greatest superhero in the world, which is because of his empathy. One of these issues was Superman: The Man of Steel #129 by Chuck Austen and Pascal Alixe.
In this issue, Superman saves a Black police officer from Bloodsport, who has regained his ability to transport guns to his hands. That is all that Bloodsport did in this issue, but the rest of the time is spent with Superman and the officer, Wit Saunders, all leading to a gut-wrenching ending of one of Superman's best stories.
The Adventures of Superman #526
In 1995, DC brought both Bloodsports together in one explosive story. This was Adventures of Superman #526 by Karl Kesel and Rodolfo Damaggio and both Bloodsports ended up in the same prison. Because the original Bloodsport is a Black man with a tragic past and the second Bloodsport is a white supremacist, the two were bound to fight.
The warden asks Superman to come to the prison to serve as a guest referee for a boxing match between the two. Trent ends up getting his teleporter to work and a riot breaks out. In the end, the guards gunned down Robert when he tries to escape, and the Aryan Nation takes out Trent for failing to beat Robert.
Superman #652
With the first two Bloodsports dead, it opened the door for a new villain to take on the role. This happened in Superman #652 by Kurt Busiek, Geoff Johns, and Pete Woods. Unlike the other two Bloodsport's in the DC Universe, this one remains a mystery with no real name or background.
In this story, Bloodsport was part of a team that wanted to cash in the $30 million bounty by Intergang to take out Superman. Bloodsport was one of the last men standing, but when he targeted Jimmy Olsen, that gave Superman a chance to stop the new villain.
Salvation Run #4 and #7
After Superman stopped Bloodsport and his fellow assassins, a major event occurred in the DC Universe. All the Earth's villains ended up exiled to another planet, and this included the third Bloodsport. Out of these villains' new factions, Bloodsport joined up with Lex Luthor's camp.
He appeared in the Salvation Run series by Lilah Sturges and Sean Chen. Bloodsport did little here, but he did take part in the fight against the Parademons before he ended up back on Earth again when Luthor found a way to return.
Superman #692
In Superman #692 by James Robinson and Renato Guedes, Bloodsport was back again. By this time, Bloodsport was working for Intergang again and committing crimes for the group. In this issue, he hijacked a truck, calling it the easiest money he ever made.
However, as is often the case with this third Bloodsport, he failed miserably. Here, Guardian stopped the hijacking and overturned the semi they stole. The first Bloodsport was a tragic tale, and the second was a horrible person. The third had been nothing but a low-ranking common thief.
JLA/Avengers #3
In 2003, Marvel and DC Comics had a massive crossover titled JLA/Avengers, which put the two biggest teams in the world into the same comics. Along with the Justice League and The Avengers, the book also brought in a ton of villains for both teams.
This included the return of Robert DuBois's Bloodsport. Because this book is out of canon, bringing back the original Bloodsport didn't change anything in DC Comics. He didn't have a big role here anyway, as characters from both worlds ended up on the wrong Earth and Bloodsport was one of them. While he did little, this is a perfect comic for anyone who wanted to see DC and Marvel in the same book.