Bloodsport Shooting Superman Motivated Idris Elba in The Suicide Squad

In James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, Idris Elba plays Robert DuBois, the mercenary known as Bloodsport who has ended up in the Belle Reve penitentiary after having been convicted of shooting Superman with a Kryptonite bullet. As crimes go, that one is pretty intense and for Elba, it's a detail that became his motivation in how he developed the character in the film.

Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Elba explained that while he didn't know who he was playing at first, knowing what Bloodsport did to Superman became a foundation of his portrayal of the character.

"I didn't know what character I was playing, but I knew the type of character and I knew the position he played within the storyline," Elba said. "So that's all I needed to understand, and I signed on. But I did know that he was the first guy to put Superman in the hospital because he shot Superman (laughs), and that's why he's in jail. That was very intriguing and also became a little bit of a motivation in some of my scenes and my character development."

Elba also said that now he'd like to make a film exploring that conflict between Bloodsport and the Man of Steel and see what would make him shoot Superman.

"It wouldn't be next, it would be what came before," Elba replied when asked what he would like to do next with DC. "I would be really interested to see why he went to jail, why did he shoot Superman? I would love to see that narrative come alive."

In The Suicide Squad, welcome to hell — a.k.a. Bell Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out — even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today's do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin, and everyone's favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.

In addition to Elba as Bloodsport, The Suicide Squad stars Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Joel Kinnaman as Colonel Rick Flag, and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang from 2016's Suicide Squad. Joining them in the film are David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Steve Agee as King Shark, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, John Cena as Peacemaker, Nathan Fillion as T.D.K., Pete Davidson as Blackguard, Flula Borg as Javelin, Mayling Ng as Mongal, Peter Capaldi as The Thinker, Michael Rooker as Savant, Alice Braga as Sol Soria, and Sean Gunn as Weasel.

The Suicide Squad is now playing in theaters and on HBO Max.