It looks like Deadshot will be coming back for Suicide Squad 2, which is now going by the title The Suicide Squad. Just not the Deadshot you know. Will Smith, who was the first to play Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot, was forced to exit the role because of scheduling conflicts. But it didn’t take too long for Warner Bros. to find his replacement. According to new reports, the studio is eyeing Idris Elba to play the role of the sharp shooting assassin.

Not only that, Warner Bros. is “barreling towards the casting process,” as the studio is loving what screenwriter James Gunn has turned in. More on the report below.

THR was among the first to report on the news. According to the report, Elba has entered into talks with the studio to replace Smith as Deadshot. Sources close to them say that a meeting between Elba and Gunn went “swimmingly.” They add that Elba was Gunn’s first and only choice.

Additionally, Gunn will be using DC characters who did not appear in the original. However, it’s very likely that characters like Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) could return for the semi-sequel. But a different source tells THR that Flagg isn’t in the picture.

This is probably the best kind of news for The Suicide Squad. The film has gone through a handful of screenwriters and directors before settling on Gunn, who was quickly scooped up after Disney fired him for distasteful tweets he made a decade ago.

Elba is best known for his roles in Luther, Pacific Rim, The Dark Tower, The Jungle Book, the upcoming Fast and Furious spinoff Hobbs and Shaw, and the Thor and Avengers films.

He would also join a handful of actors who have appeared in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DCEU. Ray Park had roles in Ant-Man and the Wasp and Aquaman. Laurence Fishburne also appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp as well as Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. And Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje had a role in Thor: The Dark World before making the jump to DCEU where he played Killer Croc in the original Suicide Squad.

Warner Bros. Has scheduled The Suicide Squad for an August 6, 2021, release.

[Source: THR]