Exclusive: Will Smith Returning As Deadshot On One Condition
A trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot has shared that Will Smith is talking to Warner Bros about his Deadshot return, but he has a condition for his character.
The Suicide Squad (2021) was the kind of story that can get people excited about DC movies again. While things didn’t go so well with Suicide Squad (2016), that can all be left in the past now. There’s a bright future ahead. It seems that both audiences and Will Smith share that mindset. The actor turned down the chance to reprise his role as Deadshot in the past, but now, we’re hearing that his DC outlook is much brighter these days. A trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot has shared that Will Smith is talking to Warner Bros about his Deadshot return, but he has a condition for his character.
Our source learned that Will Smith told the studio that if he’s going to return, he wants Deadshot to become a member of the next Justice League. This would of course create an interesting character arc for Deadshot, who would go from his life as an assassin and mercenary to Belle Reve to Task Force X and then to the life of a hero in the Justice League. Our source was unable to share if Will Smith has any specific demands for how that character arc would go. How many movies would it take for Deadshot to become a member of the Justice League? How will this interplay with the plans DC already has for the next Justice League?
We wish we knew the answers to these questions, but we were only able to confirm that Will Smith wants to see Deadshot become a member of the Justice League if he’s going to return to the role. It’s important to note that we don’t know that DC will be able to meet Will Smith’s condition. All of that said, this information still tells us a lot about where the actor’s head is at on this issue. We first learned that he was talking to DC again nearly a year ago, when we heard that the studio wanted him to come back. In that time, we’ve known that he’s talked to the studio more about what a potential future for Deadshot could look like.
While this is only speculation, based on what we’ve learned, it sounds like Will Smith wants more creative control over his character after his first time around. And that makes sense. He’s a big actor with a long career. Suicide Squad wasn’t well-received. If he’s going to come back, it sounds like he wants more assurances on what will happen creatively for his character in the long-term. That sounds smart. Why waste his time (and audience’s) with a story he isn’t happy with? A journey from Belle Reve to the Justice League would certainly be a compelling one.
The condition we hear Will Smith is laying down sounds like a solid strategy to help him avoid a dead end for his character in the DC Extended Universe. Perhaps the actor wants to avoid anything similar to what has happened with Henry Cavill’s Superman, who appears to be forgotten by the studio. DC has been criticized for not having a tight cinematic universe the way Marvel has. The Suicide Squad and The Batman have been popular hits, perhaps proving to Will Smith that taking a chance and returning to create a great storyline for Deadshot is worth it. Hopefully, DC will be able to offer him the assurances he needs to prove that they have a great plan for his character, whatever that turns out to be.
