After being announced as a cast member in David Ayer's Suicide Squad, the rumor mill went into overdrive trying to figure out just which role he was tapped to play. The biggest possibility that caught fire was that of Wonder Woman's love interest, Steve Trevor; but that rumor was dashed as soon as it was inked. So leave it to the same source of that rumor to go ahead and throw another possibility into the game.
Heroic Hollywood has gone on record as stating that they now believe that Eastwood is playing none other than Slade Wilson, aka "Deathstroke." A bad-assed mercenary who ends up being an eventual member of the Suicide Squad, Deathstroke is a pretty sweet addition to the already bursting team roster. As if that wasn't exciting enough, if Heroic Hollywood's source is correct, we may have an answer to a question we've been asking since yesterday.
The item goes on to theorize that for most of Suicide Squad's running time, Deathstroke will just be plain old Slade Wilson. Two thirds into the film, Eastwood's solider character just might become the man in the mask we all know and love. Since David Ayer teased a new character on the set of Suicide Squad yesterday, and the cloud of secrecy around that reveal is as thick as the one surrounding just who Scott Eastwood is actually playing in Suicide Squad, we're likely to believe that this rumor is true. Having this rumor crop up the day after the photo of an obscured soldier character doesn't seem like a coincidence at all.
Casting Scott Eastwood as Deathstroke in Suicide Squad is not only the opportunity that most fans of his have been waiting for him to score, it's even more of a reason for casting agents to try and reach out to Scott's father, Clint, for a comic role or two. Think about it, Scott looks almost exactly like his father did when he was young, and watching him in action is going to stir up some old wish-list casting items. If enough people start making noise about how they want to see Clint Eastwood as Old Man Logan, or – even better – a depowered Steve Rogers, there just might be enough movement to put Dirty Harry on some of the same shortlists that benefited contemporaries like Robert Redford and Michael Douglas.
With San Diego Comic Con a little under a month away, and Marvel nowhere to be found on the agenda, it wouldn't be a surprise if Heroic Hollywood's hopes for a confirmation during the Con became a reality. DC's ready to arm the big guns and take a shot at the big game in town, which only makes something like confirming Deathstroke's participation in Suicide Squad sound like an even better idea. For now, we'll keep our eyes peeled and our ears to the ground, as the run up to SDCC 2015 promises to be crazier than usual.
Suicide Squad puts its best team effort forward on August 5, 2016.
