New reports suggest Idris Elba won’t play Deadshot in The Suicide Squad out of respect to Will Smith – though he will reportedly play another character.
Reported by Variety, everyone involved, including director James Gunn, decided to move on from the Deadshot character entirely for this new film. It’s unclear which character Elba will play, but the sources suggest that nobody wanted to disrespect Smith, who portrayed Deadshot in 2016’s Suicide Squad. This theoretically leaves the door open for Smith to return in future Suicide Squad or other DCEU films, as his reason for not returning simply involved scheduling conflicts.
Source: IGN.com Suicide Squad 2: Idris Elba to Play New Character