First, we had Tom Hardy lined up to play Rick Flag, Jr. in David Ayer’s SUICIDE SQUAD. Then Hardy bailed, and Ayer looked to his END OF WATCH star Jake Gyllenhaal to fill the vacated position…he passed. With an August 2016 release date looming on the horizon, Ayer’s gotta get his team of supervillains locked down fairly soon, and now, the word is that he’s looking at two new guns to play Flag: Jon Bernthal or Joel Edgerton.
Neither Bernthal or Edgerton have the star power of Gyllenhaal, or even Hardy, but they have been up-and-comers for some time now, and have impressed in a multitude of roles. They’re probably not the only names on Ayer’s list, but I could see either of them fitting in with the high-wattage roster (which also includes Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and Jared Leto) at least as well as already-cast Jai Courtney.
Personally, even though I’m a fan of Edgerton’s work, I’d like to see this go to Bernthal. He’s been impressing time and time again in a wide range of roles, from his complicated Shane on WALKING DEAD to his thuggish Brad Bodnick in WOLF OF WALL STREET all the way through his filthy “Coon-Ass” in Ayer’s own FURY., and it’s high time he cemented his fan-favorite status. He’s shown incredible resilience when working opposite superstars like Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, and Dwayne Johnson, and that macho self-assuredness will come in handy when angling for screentime with the likes of Smith and Leto (not to mention probably Jesse Eisenberg). He would also be able to tackle the rumored story element which allegedly was a factor in Hardy and Gyllenhaal passing on the project:
*POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT*
Word 'round the campfire is that the current script has Flag betraying the Squad in the third act, and is revealed to have been working as a double agent for his father, Rick Flag, Sr., the whole time. If that is indeed what’s going down, then they need someone just as comfortable playing a villain as a “hero,” and Bernthal showed on WALKING DEAD that he’s able to walk that line without a hitch.
*END SPOILER*
Another cool rumor is that Gary Sinise is being courted to play Genera Wadel Eiling, though that CinemaBlend report suggests he’s up for another, undisclosed role. Who wouldn't love to see Lieutenant Dan play a hardass General in a comic-book movie?
They also say that Joe Manganiello is in talks to play Deathstroke, but it hasn’t been confirmed that Deathstroke is even in the script, so that’s squarely in the rumor column for now.
I’m hoping that Ayer and WB can get this thing together, and keep it from becoming another imploded “coulda-been” like George Miller’s JUSTICE LEAGUE. This is the most intriguing-sounding (non-SANDMAN) project currently on the WB/DC slate, and would bring something to the multiplex that neither Marvel, Sony, or Fox have been able to provide thus far.
We should know who’s ACTUALLY gonna play Rick Flag fairly soon. Stay tuned.
SUICIDE SQUAD proves that being bad is more fun than being good *bites apple* on August 5th, 2016.
