The production schedule for Suicide Squad was notoriously rushed, and director David Ayer was stripped of all creative control during the reshoots and editing. Still, Ayer was heavily involved in pre-production, helping out with casting and being given six weeks to finalize the script.
The most important roles to cast were the Joker and Harley Quinn, who became the beating heart of the movie (and then got almost entirely cut out of the movie by meddling studio executives), but DC wanted to have big, recognizable names in every role to attract as many moviegoers as possible. A number of A-listers were considered to play Deadshot and Rick Flag.
Deadshot: Idris Elba
Idris Elba was one of the actors considered to play Deadshot before Will Smith was cast. Elba was later cast to replace Smith as Deadshot in James Gunn’s cross between a sequel and a reboot, The Suicide Squad.
However, Elba’s role in The Suicide Squad was later changed to Bloodsport so that DC could keep the door open for Smith to return as Deadshot in a future movie.
Rick Flag: Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy was originally cast as Rick Flag in Suicide Squad, but he later had to drop out of the project when The Revenant went overschedule and he had to remain in the wilderness with Leonardo DiCaprio and Alejandro González Iñárritu for a few extra weeks.
At the time, Hardy said that he regretted having to turn down the role because he was at a point in his career when he didn’t want to lose work, but that’s not an issue now that he’s one of the biggest movie stars in the world.
Deadshot: Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell, who previously played similarly sharpshooting Bullseye in the Ben Affleck-starring Daredevil movie, was considered to play Deadshot in Suicide Squad. He’s since been cast to play the Penguin in The Batman, Matt Reeves’ reboot of the Caped Crusader’s big-screen adventures.
Funnily enough, Robert Pattinson was also considered for the role of Deadshot before Will Smith was chosen, and he’s playing Bruce Wayne opposite Farrell’s Penguin in The Batman.
Rick Flag: Karl Urban
Before Joel Kinnaman was cast, Karl Urban was considered for the role of Rick Flag. Urban is no stranger to gruff comic book heroes, having played Judge Dredd in a brutal R-rated reboot.
The fact that Urban’s Dredd movie never got its much-deserved sequels is one of the greatest tragedies from the ittedly short history of superhero cinema.
Deadshot: Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig was considered for the role of Deadshot, but his commitments to the James Bond franchise might have prevented his involvement. That’s the reason Craig turned down the role of Thor when Marvel initially offered it to him.
Ewan McGregor was also considered to play Deadshot, but he didn’t land the part and later played a different DC Comics baddie, Black Mask, opposite Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey.
Rick Flag: Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper was among the many A-list stars considered for the role of Rick Flag in Suicide Squad. Before this, Cooper had already become one of the MCU’s most beloved stars in the role of Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Cooper later went on to work with DC Films as an executive producer for Joker, directed by Todd Phillips, with whom Cooper previously worked on The Hangover trilogy.
Deadshot: Leonardo DiCaprio
Warner Bros. considered Leonardo DiCaprio for the role of Deadshot. The studio later considered DiCaprio for the role of the Joker in their standalone R-rated outing, back when they were hoping Martin Scorsese would direct instead of his pale imitator Todd Phillips.
Joaquin Phoenix ended up winning an Oscar for Joker against DiCaprio’s nomination for playing washed-up actor Rick Dalton in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Rick Flag: Jake Gyllenhaal
Jake Gyllenhaal was under consideration for the role of Rick Flag prior to Joel Kinnaman’s casting. Gyllenhaal usually avoids big blockbusters in favor of smaller movies like Nightcrawler and Prisoners.
However, the actor did venture into comic book movie territory last summer when he played Mysterio opposite Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Deadshot: Keanu Reeves
At the height of the John Wick franchise’s popularity, Keanu Reeves was considered for the role of Deadshot. It’s also been confirmed that Marvel meets with Reeves to discuss the possibility of him taking a role in pretty much all of their movies, but they haven’t found a good fit yet.
Before Will Smith was cast as Deadshot, the producers also considered Matt Damon, Johnny Depp, Michael Fassbender, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jon Hamm, Oscar Isaac, Matthew McConaughey, Brad Pitt, Alexander Skarsgård, and Jason Statham for the part.
Rick Flag: Tom Cruise
The producers of Suicide Squad considered Tom Cruise for the role of Rick Flag. Cruise still has yet to star in a comic book movie, but he was once tapped to play Green Lantern and was reportedly on the shortlist to play Tony Stark in the MCU.
Jon Bernthal, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Luke Evans, James Marsden, and Mark Wahlberg were all considered for the part before Joel Kinnaman landed the job.
