Will Smith, who played the deadly assassin Deadshot inSuicide Squad, will not reprise his role for the sequel, which will be written and directed byGuardians of the Galaxy‘s James Gunn.
Warner Bros. hoped thatSuicide Squad‘s two biggest stars, Smith and Margot Robbie, who played the Joker’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Harley Quinn, would both return for theSuicide Squadfollow-up (let’s just call itSuicide Squad 2). Unfortunately, Smith and Warner Bros. couldn’t overcome scheduling issues and parted on amicable terms,Variety reports.
Robbie’s involvement remains up in the air. The actress is currently playing Harley in another DC Comics film,Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), however, so she still has a strong connection to both the character and the studio. Other casting decisions have yet to be made.
Suicide Squadwas written and directed by David Ayer, who also helmed Netflix’s Will Smith vehicleBright, and arrived in theaters in 2016. It follows a group of imprisoned supervillains, including Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and other B-list DC Comics characters, who join a government black ops organization known as Task Force X in exchange for their freedom — provided they could survive a suicide mission.
Critics ravagedSuicide Squad— our own reviewer Rick Marshall called it “more sad than scary” — but the film made $746 million at the global box office regardless, so it’s clear why Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment committed to a sequel. The nextSuicide Squadadventure is currently scheduled to debut on July 21, 2025.
Gunn joined theSuicide Squadsequel shortly after Disney and Marvel fired him fromGuardians of the Galaxy 3after right-wing activists uncovered a series ofold, offensive jokeson Gunn’s Twitter account. Gunn, who got his start at Troma Entertainment, a studio known for its schlocky, off-color, and low-budget horror movies, had previously apologized for the tweets.
TheSuicide Squad 2sequel is being positioned as a soft reboot, and is said to feature a “mostly all-new cast of characters and actors.” Meanwhile, if you’re looking to get more of Smith in your life, his turn as the Genie in Disney’slive-actionAladdinremake is generating all kinds of buzz — and not necessarily the good kind.
