‘Robocop’ Joel Kinnaman replaces Tom Hardy as Rick Flagg in ‘Suicide Squad’
Suicide Squad filled the void left by Tom Hardy’s exit by casting the Robocop reboot star Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg. The Wrap dropped the news of the David Ayer helmed projected on Friday.
“Hardy was forced to exit the project due to scheduling issues with Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant, which is currently in production, as well as upcoming promotional duties for WB’s Mad Max: Fury Road, which comes out on May 15. Suicide Squad is expected to start production in April,” The Wrap detailed
End of Watch star Jake Gyllenhaal was rumored as a potential replacement for Hardy. After Gyllenhaal passed, Karl Urban, Joel Edgerton, and Jon Bernthal were rumored as potential candidates to play Flagg.
Based on the DC Comics team of the same name, Suicide Squad centers on a group of supervillains who strike a deal to carry out black-ops missions in exchange for commuted sentences. Ayer describes it saying, “it’s Dirty Dozen with supervillains.”
Kinnaman joins a star-studded cast that also includes Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, and Jared Leto as the Joker.
In addition, Jesse Eisenberg is in talks to reprise his Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice role as Lex Luthor, and Viola Davis is circling the role of Amanda Waller. Ben Affleck is also rumored to make an appearance as Batman.
Kinnaman is plays Stephen Holder in AMC’s The Killing and portrayed Alex Murphy in the Robocop remake. His next film is 2016’s Daniel Espinosa’s Child 44, which happens to star Hardy, and the Liam Neeson thriller Run All Night.
Production on Suicide Squad is expected to get underway this April. Warner Bros. already set picture dated for an August 5, 2016 release.
