Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, at Warner Bros. made the official announcement today that David Ayer’s Suicide Squad has its official cast set. Included in this star-studded roster are Jared Leto, Will Smith, Tom Hardy, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, and Cara Delevingne. Set for an August 2016 release, the first of thirteen recently announced upcoming Warner Bros. tentpole films, find out which iconic DC Comics villains they will be playing.

It was just about a month ago when The Wrap discovered Jared Leto was in talks to play the Joker, and a few days later Collider broke the news about Margot Robbie playing Harley Quinn. And today it is official. But not only have their castings been confirmed, but the rest of the Suicide Cast has been filled out.

Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness; Ali) has been cast as Deadshot;

Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises; Mad Max: Fury Road) as Rick Flag;

Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street; Focus) as Harley Quinn;

Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club; Alexander) as the Joker;

Jai Courtney (Divergent; A Good Day to Die Hard) as Captain Boomerang;

and Cara Delevingne (Anna Karenina; Pan) as Enchantress.

Variety also reports that Jesse Eisenberg is still in negotiations to return to the DC Cinematic Universe as Lex Luthor for the film; a role he will be introduced in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

This cast is really exciting. Margot Robbie seems like the perfect fit for Quinn. I’m also really interested in what drew Will Smith to Deadshot; it’s a unique role for to include in his filmography.

Here are some additional notes from the press release:

In making the announcement, Silverman said, “The Warner Bros. roots are deep on this one. David Ayer returns to the studio where he wrote ‘Training Day’ and brings his incredible ability to craft multidimensional villains to this iconic DC property with a cast of longtime Warner collaborators Will Smith and Tom Hardy, and other new and returning favorites: Margot, Jared, Jai and Cara. We look forward to seeing this terrific ensemble, under Ayer’s amazing guidance, give new meaning to what it means to be a villain and what it means to be a hero.”

Ayer is also writing the script for “Suicide Squad,” which is being produced by Charles Roven (“The Dark Knight” trilogy, upcoming “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”) and Richard Suckle (“American Hustle”). Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Colin Wilson and Geoff Johns are serving as executive producers.

So who are the Suicide Squad and why should you care? Although the roster has changed throughout the years, the Suicide Squad consisted of supervillains hired by the government to carry out missions with a high probability of death. In exchange, their prison sentences would be reduced. A character by the name of Amanda Waller is the squad’s leader, and the actress playing the character has yet to be announced.

But what makes this interesting is that the Joker has never been a part of the Squad, which leads us to believe the clown prince of crime to be the main antagonist. We’re still about two years out, so we’ll be waiting in anticipation as to how this film will unfold.

Directed by David Ayer (Fury; End of Watch), Suicide Squad stars Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Tom Hardy, Jai Courtney, and Cara Delevinge.

Suicide Squad is set to release in theaters on August 5, 2016.

---

 

You can follow me on the Twitters @TyRawrrnosaurus

Source: Warner Bros via Business Wire