A new report claims to reveal the character Idris Elba will play in James Gunn’s upcoming film The Suicide Squad, which is said to be a reboot even though it’s basically a sequel. According to Forbes, the British star is joining Task Force X as Bronze Tiger/Ben Turner.
This isn’t too surprising, as Bronze Tiger seemed like a good fit for Elba and fans had previously theorized that’s who he’d be portraying. Gunn also shared a cover from a classic issue of the Suicide Squad comic on his Instagram story which featured the character. This info could be accurate, then, but for now, we’ll classify it as a rumor. At least until WB makes an official announcement.
Elba was initially cast as Deadshot in the sequel, though this was later decided against so as to not look like a jab at Will Smith, who originated the role in David Ayer’s 2016 movie. A separate rumor pointed to the star playing Deathstroke instead. Seeing as this would’ve meant Elba was replacing another DCEU actor, though – Joe Manganiello played Slade Wilson in Justice League – that seemed pretty unlikely.
In any case, what we can tell you with certainty is that the rest of the cast includes Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney and Joel Kinnaman reprising their roles from the first film, plus David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior and John Cena signing up as new characters. Michael Rooker’s rumored for King Shark as well, while Benicio del Toro is apparently playing the villain, currently known as the General/the Mayor.
Forbes’ article also dropped a few other intriguing rumors about the future of the franchise, including the fact that Robin could play a part in Matt Reeves’ The Batman and that WB might start production on a Supergirl movie in early 2020. We’ll have to be patient to see if any of this intel turns out to be accurate, but there’s definitely a lot to get excited about, it seems.
The Suicide Squad is said to begin filming later this year, ahead of its scheduled release on August 6th, 2021. As always, watch this space for more.