Jai Courtney in Talks for ‘Suicide Squad’

Jai Courtney Suicide Squad

Jai Courtney has been in a significant TV series (Spartacus), a film franchise (Die Hard), helped anchor another would-be series (Jack Reacher) and will soon be seen in Terminator: Genisys (above). And now he’s in early talks for Suicide Squad, the DC Comics film from Warner Bros. and writer/director David Ayer. So does this guy have the best representation in town, or what? While his potential role isn’t known for certain, word is that he’ll play Batman antagonist Deadshot.

Variety reports that Courtney is in talks, and says he’s likely going after Deadshot. The character is traditionally a Batman villain, but has been part of multiple versions of the Suicide Squad team in comics pages.

Deadshot is a bit like the DC version of Marvel’s Bullseye — or rather, the relationship would be the other way around, since Deadshot beat Bullseye to publication by a couple decades. The character, real name Floyd Lawton, is generally seen as an assassin with impeccable aim, a face mask featuring a target sight, and an array of useful weaponry. He is impeccably professional, but also possessed of a disregard for his own life.

Suicide Squad has been described as the DC version of the Dirty Dozen, with a bunch of villains offered a chance at redemption through a nearly impossible mission. In addition to Courtney, other actors are in various stages of discussions: Tom Hardy for Rick Flagg, a team leader and essentially the Lee Marvin role if we’re keeping up the Dirty Dozen comparison; Margot Robbie for Harley Quinn; Jared Leto for the Joker; and Will Smith for a role that could be The Flash nemesis Boomerang. Smith is said to be the actor with the loosest ties to the film so far.

Additonally, Jesse Eisenberg is rumored to show up in the film, reprising the role of Lex Luthor from Batman v Superman.

David Ayer will rewrite the original script by Justin Marks; Suicide Squad is set for release on August 5, 2016.