Despite the failures and dissatisfaction with the first Suicide Squad, the movie still did well at the box office. A bland script, dull characters, and a generically vapid villain in Enchantress, I never thought the movie would be greenlit for a sequel. But it is now and the rest is history. The sequel will be helmed by James Gunn, and so far there has been interesting developments: Margot Robbie reprising her role in the film despite being cast in her own standalone feature Birds of Prey, and Warner Bros. announcing that Will Smith will not be reprising his role as Deadshot.

According to multiple sources, the busy Idris Elba (who has Hobbs & Shaw and, uhm, Cats coming up later this year) is replacing Smith as the Suicide Squad’s resident marksman, in a sequel that the Hollywood Reporter describes as consisting largely of new characters not seen in the original film, with the key exceptions being Deadshot and Harley Quinn. Frankly, Will Smith’s Deadshot was a poor lead. All of Smith’s charisma and inherent likability couldn’t save his character from being the generic and awkward mess that he is.

Following the announcement that Elba will replace Smith, some fans are calling it a major upgrade. Well, we will find out. Suicide Squad 2 hits theaters August 6, 2021.

Bernard Dayo

When Bernard Dayo isn’t writing about pop culture, he’s watching horror movies and reading comics and trying to pretend his addiction to Netflix isn’t a serious condition.