Cameras are still rolling on James Gunn‘s The Suicide Squad, with production having moved from Atlanta, Georgia to Panama. We’re still over a year away from the film’s release and as a result, there aren’t that many details known about the movie. Though some set photos from the film have revealed a few characters and first-looks at the cast, we still don’t know much about it. One of the biggest question marks is in its youngest cast member, actress Storm Reid, who it was previously reported will play Idris Elba‘s character in the film. Though Reid wouldn’t confirm who she’s playing in the film, the young actress did reveal that she’s completed her part in the production, suggesting that it’s a small role.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“(James Gunn’s) incredible, the nicest person but also super-duper talented,” Reid said about the director in an interview with Collider. “I have filmed my piece in Suicide Squad 2 so I can’t wait to see that all come together. I was a fan of the franchise before so now to be a part of it is really cool.”
Fans recently got a first look at Elba’s role in The Suicide Squad thanks to the latest batch of set photos, but it’s still not clear who he’s actually playing in the film. Elba was originally going to replace Will Smith as Deadshot, but the part was re-written to be a new character, who some fans theorize could be Bronze Tiger (another prominent member of the Suicide Squad in the pages of DC Comics) or even the likes of Manhunter or Deathstroke.
Considering Elba’s role was changed from Deadshot to another character, out of respect for Will Smith and to give him the opportunity to return to the franchise at some point if he’s able, it was also to keep some consistency in the World of DC as a whole. Even though Suicide Squad, THE Suicide Squad, and Birds of Prey aren’t actually all sequels to each other, they do still take place in the same world. Producer Sue Kroll made this clear before, saying that The Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey aren’t directly linked and stand on their own, while they do have clever references to previous events where applicable.
“This was designed to be its own thing, standalone, singular, as is James’s Suicide Squad,” Kroll told ComicBook.com. “But because the world is the world, there are these very interesting organic connections, I think, that end up evolving, but there wasn’t any kind of consultation among the filmmakers on the movies. And they, of course, started much later, as we were getting close to wrap, and so things were done pretty much independently. But something like for example Boomerang, it’s interesting, when they started shooting and planning Suicide Squad, it evolved, his photo evolved out of that kind of conversation. So those kinds of connections, but very organic.”
The Suicide Squad arrives in theaters on August 6, 2021.
