David Ayer’s Suicide Squad is now a man down (I wonder how many puns like this are being formulated across the blogosphere). Tom Hardy, thanks to Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant going over schedule into March, and his already existing promotional schedule for Mad Max: Fury Road, has been forced to drop out of the super-villain team-up.
Considering I’d argue he was the finest actor in the cast that was officially announced (check out Locke sometime if you haven’t), this would seem to be a huge loss for the production. Now, Warner Bros. is looking to find a new Col. Rick Flagg and they may already have someone in mind.
According to The Wrap, the studio is courting Jake Gyllenhaal, who recently starred in, and should have been Oscar-nominated for, Nightcrawler. WB has long flirted with Gyllenhaal for various comic-based roles, most notably he was almost cast as Batman in Batman Begins. But don’t let recent pictures from Nightcrawler fool you, Gyllenhaal has put on some serious bulk for his upcoming role in Southpaw.
Suicide Squad currently stars Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney and Cara Delevinge. Viola Davis and Jesse Eisenberg are still in talks to join the picture as well.
Suicide Squad opens on August 5th, 2016.
Photo: LA Times Magazine
It’s never been made official, at least not via a press release or anything of the like, but its been assumed that the rumored reports of Viola Davis‘ involvement in the upcoming DC Comics based film Suicide Squad, playing Amanda Waller, were a matter of fact.
Speaking with Nerd Report recently, the actress confirms that she will indeed playing the role of the Squad’s ringleader. Here’s what she had to say:
I’m fascinated by her. I’m fascinated by her in this world of superhero-ness because she is not a woman that you would expect. I think that she is a massive contradiction. She’s this big powerful black woman, hard, ready to pick up a gun and shoot anyone at will. I’m fascinated in exploring her psychology, just put it that way. And I’m excited to pick up a gun.
Davis states that she hasn’t begun researching the character in full as she’s still working on her schedule for the film, as such, it’s possible her role may not be particularly large given the actresses’ TV shooting demands for How To Get Away With Murder. Regardless, she’s another tremendous “get” for this star-studded cast.
Suicide Squad will be directed by David Ayer (Fury, End Of Watch) and also stars Tom Hardy, Will Smith, Margo Robbie, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney, and Cara Delevigne. The film will release on August 5, 2016.
Hold onto your monocles, because it’s time for DC comics to make their first attempt at getting you to drop them in shock. The initial round of April ‘shock’ gatefold covers have been released via various locations – CBR, MTV Geek, DC’s Source blog, and so on – and I’ve collected them here. So far we have, I believe, seven officially released covers from DC, as part of their (formerly WTF) April promotion, from comics including Dial H, Batman, Stormwatch and Swamp Thing.
Each one of these is meant to make you spit out your Pimms in surprise – so, how well do they succeed?
Personally? Well.. I wasn’t shocked (my monocle remains trusty and proud), but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the stories suggested here. Mr Miracle’s return in Earth 2 is probably the best of the reveals so far, but that new Batwing also looks pretty familiar…
I say they recast Will Smith as Rick Flagg and find someone (mmmmaybe Jake Gyllenhaal) to play Deadshot. But then, WB has been notably delinquent when it comes to consulting me on their casting choices.