James Gunn has reportedly targeted the lead villain for his upcoming Warner Brothers film ‘The Suicide Squad’— Benicio Del Toro. The character is referred to as The Mayor, but it’s unknown if that is his actual name, or if this will actually be a character from DC Comics. Either way, he is described as an “irascible old warrior who lives for war.” Antonio Banderas was also said to be a consideration at one point.
RELATED: Michael Rooker May Take A Bite Out Of ‘The Suicide Squad’ As King Shark
Should Del Toro sign on, he will be facing off against Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, David Dastmalchian as the Polka-Dot Man, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Idris Elba in a currently unknown role, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher, and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Michael Rooker is said to be in talks to portray King Shark. Gunn’s picture is said to be a reboot, not a direct sequel to the 2016 ‘Suicide Squad’. In that film, the group of convicted felons took on the otherworldly Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) and Incubus (Alain Chanoine), a matchup that many found incongruous. It looks as though Gunn is pitting the team against a more grounded enemy.
Like Rooker, Del Toro is a veteran of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has worked with Gunn previously, having played The Collector in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. (He reprised the role for brief cameos in ‘Thor: The Dark World’, and ‘Avengers: Infinity War’.) As mentioned previously, other actors that have crossed the line between Marvel and DC include Dastmalchian, who played Kurt in the two ‘Ant-Man’ movies; Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje who played Killer Croc in the first ‘Suicide Squad’ and had the small role of Algrim in ‘Thor: The Dark World’; Laurence Fishburn who appeared as Perry White for DC and Bill Foster in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’; Randall Park, from ‘Aquaman’, and ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’; Djimon Hounsou, who appears as the Wizard in ‘Shazam!’, and as Korath the Pursuer in the Marvel movies; and Zachary Levi who headlined ‘Shazam!’, and previously played Fandral in ‘Thor: The Dark World’, and ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.
In addition to the Marvel movies, Del Toro appeared in Disney’s other major franchise, having played DJ in ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’. Del Toro is also known for the ‘Sicario’ movies, ‘Traffic’, ‘The Usual Suspects’ and more. He was last seen in the Showtime miniseries ‘Escape at Dannemora’. He will next appear in Wes Anderson’s ‘The French Dispatch’, and Jamie Foxx’s feature directorial debut, the comedy ‘All-Star Weekend’. Del Toro provides the voice of Swiper in ‘Dora and the Lost City of Gold’.
‘The Suicide Squad’ is expected to begin filming later this year to be released in theaters on August 6, 2021.
Source: The GWW
