James Gunn's SUICIDE SQUAD Reportedly Following The Classic Ostrander And Yale Run

James Gunn's Suicide Squad is beginning to take shape.

According to a new report from THR, Deadshot's role in Gunn's sequel is so important that the villain had to be recast instead of simply omitting the character. That's because Gunn is said to be taking his cues from the celebrated Jon Ostrander and Kim Yale run on the title during the '80s and not the more recent New 52 version of the team.

During Ostrander and Yale's time on the title, Deadshot was the team's de facto leader and was the only member actively looking to die. As such, he would often accept missions with very low survival odds that often resulted in his subpar teammates being hurt, or worse. 

In the David Ayer pic, Deadshot is depicted as an assassin-for-hire who only cares about his daughter. However, the Floyd Lawton of the '80s did not have a daughter and was depicted as an elite marksman with a deathwish due to childhood trauma surrounding the accidental death of his brother. If Idris Elba's Deadshot has similar motivations, expect Gunn's twisted sense of humor to have a field day with a seemingly expendable band of villains (Ratcatcher, Polka-dot Man, Peacemaker, and King Shark).

The wildcard in Gunn's film is the inclusion of Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, a character that didn't join the Suicide Squad until the 2011 New 52 line-wide reboot of DC Comics. If Gunn's Suicide Squad roster of D and F-list villains is in-part due to Deadshot's suicidal nature, that tension would be somewhat undercut as audiences are likely smart enough to know that Quinn is too valuable of an IP to ever be killed off.