James Gunn's The Suicide Squad appears to be finding inventive -- and manipulative -- ways to rope in new recruits to the deadly Task Force X. In the case of Bloodsport, the trained assassin joins the team when his daughter is threatened. Akin to Deadshot from the 2016 Suicide Squad film, the main method of drafting such contract killers seems to be aiming for their hearts.
The latest trailer for Gunn's degenerates on death row focuses more intently on the character of Bloodsport, aka Robert DuBois (Idris Elba). DuBois is seen in prison, visited by Task Force X director Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), who gives him the rundown on his profile. After DuBois initially rejects Waller's offer to join the Squad, she simply says, "We'll see." The next clip then reveals a call from Bloodsport's daughter suggesting Waller can help her with her upcoming court date. Recognizing the veiled threat, DuBois is triggered with rage.
Considering Bloodsport's dangerous history, his sentimental attachment to a daughter of any kind comes as something of a surprise. The mercenary does not have a daughter in the comics, but either way, he's still an outlawed killer -- or at least an attempted killer. Waller's brief summary of DuBois' file notes that he is in prison for putting Superman in the ICU by shooting him with a Kryptonite bullet. This is a direct reference to the comics, when Bloodsport is hired by Lex Luthor to assassinate Superman in John Byrne's 1987 issue Superman #4. Despite staying true to the character's violent history on the pages, Gunn also seems to be going off-book by giving the deadly killer some sentimental value in the form of a daughter -- something that calls back to the first Suicide Squad film from 2016.
In David Ayer's film, the assassin Deadshot aka Floyd Lawton (Will Smith) is a character similarly motivated by his daughter and unlike Bloodsport, Deadshot's daughter is canon in the comics. Other than being a trained killer, Lawton's identity has always been tied to his little girl, Zoe. In the comics, Zoe is driven by the separation from her father, leading her to take up archery and establish her own identity. In 2016's Suicide Squad, Zoe appears early on in the film, when she confronts her father about him being a killer -- a dispute confirmed by the interruption from Batman, and Deadshot's attempts at murdering him. Lawton's attack on the Dark Knight ultimately ends with his arrest, leaving him in a similar situation as DuBois at the start of Gunn's loose sequel -- imprisoned and taken away from his daughter.
In a role seemingly inspired by 2016's Deadshot, Bloodsport appears to be a ruthless hunter with a soft spot for family in The Suicide Squad. Given Lawton's devotion to his daughter in the comics, it's only fitting that DuBois is persuaded by a similar child-figure, even if she was invented as a plot device for the new film. As with Deadshot's recruitment, once Amanda Waller pulls the rug out from under Bloodsport by threatening his daughter, the deadly assassin has no choice but to finally surrender to Task Force X.
Written and directed by James Gunn, The Suicide Squad stars Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, Michael Rooker as Savant, Flula Borg as Javelin, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, Idris Elba as Bloodsport, Mayling NG as Mongal, Peter Capaldi as The Thinker, Alice Braga as Solsoria, Sylvester Stallone as King Shark, Pete Davidson as Blackguard, Nathan Fillion as TDK, Sean Gunn as Weasel, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and John Cena as Peacemaker, with Steve Agee, Taika Waititi and Storm Reid. The film arrives in theaters and on HBO Max Aug. 6.