Tom Hardy Explains Why He Left Suicide Squad

Following Warner Bros.’ official unveiling of their live-action Suicide Squad last night, actor Tom Hardy has clarified why he couldn’t stand amongst the film’s ensemble.

Hardy, who was set to play Rick Flag for David Ayer’s DC Comics film, left the project at the eleventh hour earlier this year. Rumors circulated that Hardy’s departure stemmed from his dissatisfaction with the script, but now the actor is pegging the departure to far more practical reasons.

As it turns out, Hardy’ schedule simply wouldn’t allow for time on Squad. Hardy’s current film, The Revenant, has overshot its production timeline by three months, preventing him from participating in Suicide Squad’s production. 

And from the sounds of it, Hardy is quite bummed about the turn of events. As he told Collider:

“Warner Bros. is my home studio and I love them so I was really bummed out. I wanted to work on that and I know the script is really f***ing alley and I also know what’s gonna happen with The Joker and Harley Quinn in that; I won’t give away too much…it’s f***ing alley. And that whole territory is something that I would certainly—I mean, everybody loves The Joker. Everybody loves The Joker. Will Smith is a dope guy, but everybody loves The Joker and that’s gonna, I think, be a very important film for fans.”

Joel Kinman has replaced Hardy for the Flag role, and is currently shooting the film now.

Suicide Squad hits theater on August 5, 2016.