James Gunn Speaks Out On The Suicide Squad's Superman Connection
There are faces old and new coming to James Gunn's first DCEU superhero flick, "The Suicide Squad." Obviously Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) will be back, but so, too, will Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney). There are tons of new faces, as well, but the one who seems to have grabbed the most attention in the latest full trailer for "The Suicide Squad" is Robert DuBois aka Bloodsport (Idris Elba).
What makes Bloodsport of interest to fans of the DCEU? Simple — he nearly defeated Superman.
In the trailer, it is revealed that Bloodsport is locked up in Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary because he left the Kryptonian in the ICU after shooting him with a kryptonite bullet. And, in fact, that storyline is ripped directly from the pages of Bloodsport's first comic book appearance in the 1987 issue "Superman" #4. In that story, Bloodsport fires a kryptonite needle into Superman that can only be surgically removed once Superman is weakened enough by the kryptonite that his skin becomes penetrable.
It's not like we haven't seen Henry Cavill's incarnation of the Man of Steel be attacked with kryptonite weaponry. After all, Batman (Ben Affleck) used kryptonite in his attack on Supes in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Nonetheless, it wasn't until Doomsday rolled in that Superman was actually defeated.
So what gives? What is the story behind Bloodsport's attack on Superman? Is this even Cavill's version of Superman we're talking about? James Gunn was asked the particulars of this battle between Bloodsport and Superman, in order to gain some canonical clarity, and he answered as clearly as he could.
Which Superman did Bloodsport shoot?
James Gunn spoke with IGN for an exclusive breakdown of the final "The Suicide Squad" trailer and he was clear that this now-infamous fight between Bloodsport and Superman, in the film universe, played out very similarly to the one from the original comics. "Bloodsport is in prison for putting Superman in the ICU with a kryptonite bullet," Gunn explained. Presumably, then, Superman survived in much the same way as he did in the comics.
Gunn was clear concerning something else people have been wondering about for a while: "Yes, 'The Suicide Squad' is a part of the DCEU," he said. But then Gunn followed that up with something interesting (and less clear): "I don't know which Superman it was because I don't cast the next Superman. So, it could be Henry [Cavill]. It could be somebody else. It's whoever people decide upon other than me."
There's a lot of hubbub over Superman's future in the DCEU. Ta-Nehisi Coates, who previously wrote "Black Panther" and "Captain America" for Marvel Comics, is working on a screenplay for a new version of Superman portrayed by a Black actor, but we don't know yet how that version of the character will fit in to the DCEU, or if he will be in his own universe altogether. For instance, he could be a new take on Clark Kent, but he could also be an alternate universe figure like Calvin Ellis or Val-Zod. And none of that answers whether or not there's still a future for Cavill as Superman going forward.
Is Gunn telling the truth? Or will there be a Superman cameo in "The Suicide Squad" that he's keeping hush hush? We'll find out when "The Suicide Squad" hits theaters and HBO Max on August 6.