The Suicide Squad: James Gunn Reveals Two Characters He Wrote Without Meeting The Actors

Harley Quinn in The Suicide Squad role call

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The DC Extended Universe is a unique place, with a ton of exciting projects coming down the pipeline over the next few years. One of the most hotly anticipated upcoming blockbusters is James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, which will be a soft reboot of the similarly tilted 2017 movie. Gunn recently revealed the ensemble of characters at the virtual DC Fandome event, and it turns out that he had to write two of members of Task Force X without having ever actually met the actors.

The Suicide Squad has a massive cast of characters, many of which likely won't make it out of the adventure alive. Fans were thrilled to finally learn what role the actors are playing, but it turns out that two of the members of Task Force X provided their own challenge. Namely because James Gunn had to write for actors without actually meeting them beforehand. The iconic filmmaker explained this, posting:

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Well, there you have it. It looks like the two members of The Suicide Squad that James Gunn had to write for without coming face to face were none other than Idris Elba and Mexican actor Joaquín Cosío. The above post in particular praises the latter performer's work in the mysterious DCEU blockbuster, so we'll have to see what Cosío's character Mateo Suárez.

James Gunn shared the above image and message over on his personal Twitter account. The photo comes rom the first time the visionary filmmaker met with Joaquín Cosío, after he wrote his character for The Suicide Squad. Cosío's work speak for himself, with previous appearances in projects like Quantum of Solace and Narcos: Mexico. And clearly he got along well with Gunn upon meeting.

The original Suicide Squad movie is currently available over on HBO Max. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.

James Gunn wrote and directed The Suicide Squad, so his unique vision should take center stage in the villain-centric DC blockbuster. The upcoming movie will feature a handful of returning faces, but will also include a slew of newcomers. And rather than use fan favorite villains, the Task Force is filled with relative unknowns.

Joaquín Cosío will be playing Mateo Suárez in The Suicide Squad, a second in command to South American dictator Silvio Luna. Not much is known about this new addition to the DC Extended Universe, but Task Force X will likely be doing battle with Luna's forces. We'll just have to patiently wait for more footage to see how Cosío factors into the story.

As for Idris Elba, he'll be playing lesser known DC villain Robert DuBois / Bloodsport. Elba was originally reported to be taking over the role of Deadshot, although that character was left open for Will Smith to return to the shared universe sometime in the future. Bloodport is another mercenary and marksman, one who famously shot Superman with a Kryptonite bullet.

And it turns out that James Gunn didn't get meet Idris Elba before tackling the script. While it was Gunn's decision to change his character to Bloodsport, it seems the writer/director/producer prefers to have some relationship with is actors when writing for them. We'll just have to see if Elba and Joaquín Cosío's characters fell any different than the rest of the ensemble.

The Suicide Squad is currently set to arrive in theaters on August 26th, 2021. In the meantime, check out our 2021 release list to plan your trips to the movie next year.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.