Update (4/5/19): Turns out Idris Elba won’t be replacing Will Smith in Suicide Squad 2 after all.

The good news is, this doesn’t mean Elba won’t be joining the cast of director James Gunn’s villian-centric sequel.

Instead, the Luther star will be playing a new character in Suicide Squad 2.

When Elba’s involvement was first announced, it was thought that he would be taking over the role of Deadshot after Will Smith had to bow out of the sequel due to scheduling conflicts.

Now, a source close to the project has told Variety that instead of recasting the character, Gunn has decided to nix Deadshot from the sequel’s storyline altogether.

Shelving Deadshot instead of recasting him in the sequel ultimately leaves room for Smith to return to the role somewhere down the line if the franchise were to continue.

Elba joins original stars Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, and Viola Davis. They’ll be returning to reprise their Suicide Squad roles of Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, and Amanda Waller, respectively.

So who will Elba play if not the deadly hitman? It sounds as though we’ll just have to wait and see as details on his role in the sequel are being kept firmly under wraps.

Leave your guesses as to who Elba might be playing in the upcoming sequel in the comments below!

Original Story:

Suicide Squad 2 may have just found its new leading man in Idris Elba.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, actor Idiris Elba is currently in talks to join the cast of Suicide Squad 2 not as a new character, but as the film’s new Deadshot.

News that Elba is being eyed for the role comes just a week after we learned that actor Will Smith would not be returning to reprise his role from the first film as the deadly assassin.

Though Smith was never officially signed on to star in the upcoming sequel, the Aladdin star was expected to return. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, Smith has chosen to sit this one out.

As for Elba, a source close to the project told THR that the actor met with screenwriter James Gunn late last week, and that talks went well.

Gunn, who was previously spearheading Disney’s Guardias of the Galaxy franchise before he was let go from the studio, will be working with David Ayer on the upcoming sequel.

Ayer’s Suicide Squad premiered back in 2016 and featured a slew of DC’s most notorious villains including Harley Quinn, The Joker, Captain Boomerang and Killer Croc.

Though both Deadshot and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) are expected to be featured in the upcoming sequel, there’s no word yet on which other characters we might see return.

Titled The Suicide Squad, Suicide Squad 2 is scheduled to be released on August 6, 2021.