Written by Edwin Francisco
The Suicide Squad sequel originally planned for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Black Adam to be the main villain.
Writing for movies can get really complicated. Especially when the people behind it had a different direction when they started and changed at the tail end of it. Director David Ayer and actor Will Smith were originally on the drawing board to return for Suicide Squad 2.
At the time, there were plans to even make solo films for Smith’s Deadshot and Jared Leto’s the Joker. But studio meddling forced the film to reshoot to add comedy. This was a reaction audience response to the dark tone of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Thus, this caused a messy production.
Suicide Squad 2 Planned For Black Adam As Villain
Image: Warner Bros.
Because of the mixed response, the original plans laid out for the Suicide Squad crumbled. The film changed writers and Ayer moved to other projects. Suicide Squad 2 was then looking for a new director. Adam Cozad and Zak Penn were at one point on board to work on the film.
In 2018, Warner Bros. hired Gavin O’Connor to write and direct Suicide Squad 2. He had Anthony Tambakis co-write the script. At the time, reports indicated that Black Adam was going to be the main villain. In fact, The Rock already signed. O’Connor finished the script in September 2018 but left the project in early October.
In addition, Warner Bros. selected Mike De Luca to produce the movie with Zack Snyder’s frequent collaborator Charles Roven. This was when Walter Hamada took charge as president of DC Films. Hamada then switched plans. Suicide Squad 2 proceeded without De Luca. Ironically, De Luca took over DC Films from Hamada in 2021. This was prior to James Gunn and Peter Safran presiding over the new DC Studios.
Suicide Squad 2 Planned For Black Adam As Villain
Image: Warner Bros.
Gunn eventually got hold of the new Suicide Squad. But we have to admit that the changes are drastic. No more Deadshot, no Joker, no Black Adam. Instead, Gunn delivered a gory, R-rated version with humor as the execs wanted and Starro the Conqueror.
Now, we wonder how Ayer’s Suicide Squad would have worked without corporate meddling. The original film went through several editors but only credited John Gilroy. So far, there is word that a very few select people have seen The Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad. #ReleaseTheAyerCut trended on Twitter today with over 200,000 tweets.
What if we actually got O’Connor’s version instead of Gunn’s? The old Warner Bros. regime left a trail of missed opportunities. This is among the forgotten ones.