‘SUICIDE SQUAD’ Update; Karl Urban And Jason Clarke In The Mix For Flagg And Deathstroke

Written by Christopher M.

A new crop of names are being linked for roles in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad via JoBlo.

It looks like there is a fifth actor being looked at for the role of Rick Flagg, and it’s Dredd himself Karl Urban. You might remember it was only a couple of days ago that Karl was being linked for the villain role in Aquaman.  I’m sure we could be hearing even more actors but Karl is an interesting addition to the mix of names.

I have my own thoughts why so many actors are passing on this part.

The role of Flagg was originally alluring to Tom Hardy before the part was scaled back in Ayer’s rewrites and the role could be a lot more minor than people are expecting it to be. Basically, they’re looking at big names but the part doesn’t seem to have enough bite to attract the level of actors they want for it.

Flagg could also be off-putting to a lot of these candidates mostly because it could kill their shot at a leading superhero franchise.

Marvel usually avoids casting actors who have been a part of DC films and taking the role could nix franchise potential in the DC side as well.

Again, from what I’ve been hearing Flagg might not even be in sequels, the role is pretty minor compared to the comics and this could be a tough sell to rising actors like Jake Gyllenhaal (already passed), Jon Bernthal and even Joel Edgerton.

Tom, Jake and Joel had been linked for Marvel Studios franchise leads, so it’s unlikely we’d see them taking DC scraps which Flagg is starting to look like.

JoBlo is affirming talk that Deathstroke is indeed in the film but won’t be on the actual team.

Joe Manganiello is said to the Ayer’s first choice as he previously worked with Ayer on Sabotage.

Aussie Jason Clarke is also being considered for the role.

It’s not hard to see why the studio would want to have Clarke play the role having a huge breakout hit with Dawn of the Planet of The Apes last summer. He’s also playing the new John Connor this year in Terminator: Genisys opposite Captain Boomerang’s Jai Courtney. 

The role itself could end-up becoming one of the more important characters moving forward into the DCCU, as there is crossover potential with the Batman films along with a solo film which had been developed and produced by David Goyer (Blade, Batman Begins).

Other actors such as Ed Harris (The Rock, A History of Violence, Enemy At The Gates), Gary Sinise (Forest Gump) and Max Martini (Sabotage, Pacific Rim, The Unit) are linked for roles but those are considered spoilers, feel free to check out the link to have some of the film’s plot ruined.

Production is expected to begin in April at Pinewood Studios, Toronto with a release date of August 5th, 2016.