Will Smith Is Leaving The ‘Suicide Squad’ Role Of Deadshot

While things are on the upswing right now, following the success of “Aquaman,” here’s a lot of turmoil, commotion and churning in the DC Universe right now and it’s the combination of out with the old and in with the new. Ben Affleck is gone as Batman, Henry Cavill has essentially left the Superman role, and it looks like Jared Leto has quietly been removed from the Joker role. You can add one more to the list; Will Smith is apparently leaving his role as Deadshot in the “Suicide Squad” franchise.

‘Suicide Squad’ “Relaunch” Set For Summer 2021 With New Characters; James Gunn Confirmed

Though not official or announced by the studio (who generally doesn’t make these kinds of retirement announcements anyhow), Variety is being told that scheduling issues are a problem for Smith. “The Suicide Squad,” a soft reboot of 2016’s “Suicide Squad,” which is set to premiere in the summer of 2021 and has been taken over by ousted-Marvel filmmaker James Gunn (“Guardians Of The Galaxy”).

Updated: Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn Reportedly Won’t Join ‘Suicide Squad’ Or Crossover Into ‘Gotham City Sirens’

The split is said to be amicable, and Smith is moving on, but Deadshot and Harley Quinn (played by Margot Robbie), were expected to take the new “Suicide Squad” forward as Gunn shed many of the old elements and just held onto the stars that made the original film bankable, Smith clearly being one of the main attractions. While it was reported recently that Robbie would not return for “The Suicide Squad” and will instead, appear in the upcoming “Birds Of Prey” which is set for a winter 2020 release, that report was walked back, and the star is still a team member.

READ MORE: Before ‘Suicide Squad,’ James Gunn Was Reportedly Offered ‘Superman’ & Possibly ‘Super Pets’

And at this point, Margot may be the only member of the team if the reports are to be all believed. Because with Smith out, Leto is likely gone, that doesn’t leave a lot of acting star power on the team outside of Viola Davis as the government black ops leader Amanda Waller and, well, maybe Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang.

READ MORE: ‘Aquaman 2’ Has A Release Date, But Fans Will Have To Wait Several Years

But Gunn is said to be overhauling the team, tone, idea and general narrative, so it’s very possible “The Suicide Squad,” due in theaters August 6, 2021, hits the screen in a nearly unrecognizable form with new actors recast in familiar roles.

READ MORE: Jared Leto’s Joker Movies & Time As Character May Be Over At DC Films

As a side note, it’s interesting what’s so busy in Smith’s schedule that he can’t be free in, say, summer or spring of 2020 to make a film that comes out the following year. But if you pay close attention to Smith’s career, the actor doesn’t really like to act that much and sort of appears in films from time to time and when they genuinely catch his eye. In short, he doesn’t need to work, so he doesn’t if he doesn’t want to. It’ll be interesting to see if he read the new script for Gunn’s version of “The Suicide Squad” and said, “yep, that’s not for me,” considering how loyal and into David Ayers’ original version of the series he was.

Time will tell. But DCEU remains in flux as it moves forward. For every new “Aquaman” release date scheduled and an actor like Jason Momoa continuing forward with his superhero role, there appears always to be at least one performer who is leaving the costume behind at the same time. It would not surprise me if someone like Ezra Miller, The Flash, is next.  [Variety]