Believe it or not, Tom Hardy nearly joined the now-defunct DC Extended Universe, or DCEU, in an unexpected role. The Oscar-nominated actor was originally up for the role of Rick Flag in the 2016 DC comic book movie, Suicide Squad. However, due to various circumstances, Hardy’s casting did not pan out, and instead, the part of Flag went to Joel Kinnaman. Hardy admitted he regretted not being able to work on the film and heavily praised David Ayer‘s script, but it turned out that Hardy dodged a huge bullet by not taking the role. It’s time to explain why Hardy’s career is better for not appearing in the greatly maligned DC feature, Suicide Squad.
Tom Hardy Dropped Out of ‘Suicide Squad’ Due to ‘The Revenant’ Commitments
Considering Hardy was a notable star when Suicide Squad was filming, his dropping out of the production was a huge story at the time. The actor found great success playing in the DC Universe before, portraying the villainous Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, capping off Christopher Nolan‘s Batman trilogy. During the media tour for Mad Max: Fury Road, Hardy finally revealed why he was forced to withdraw from Suicide Squad and pass on the role of Rick Flag. As Hardy explained during a press conference, his filming commitments for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s epic historical drama, The Revenant, caused his exit from Suicide Squad. Hardy noted that Inarritu “overshot [The Revenant] by three months,” and the production “turned into a much bigger beast” than what they originally thought. So, with Hardy out of Suicide Squad, Kinnaman was in as Rick Flag, but even though Hardy lost out on appearing in another big-budget comic book movie, it worked out for his career in the long run.
‘Suicide Squad’ Was a Polarizing, Maligned Superhero Experience
Upon its release, Suicide Squad was savaged by critics, scoring 26% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was not the most encouraging sign for the latest DCEU movie following the underwhelming response to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice earlier in the year. Suicide Squad was derided for its disjointed storyline, not to mention its overuse of a music video editing style that heavily utilized garish graphics, and various subplots lost cohesion in the theatrical cut. The experience reeks of studio interference, with Warner Bros. scrambling to perform damage control after the disappointing performance of Batman v Superman. That led to Warner Bros. Pictures and then-CEO Kevin Tsujihara to bring on trailer editors to finish cutting Ayer’s movie following a comprehensive set of expensive reshoots.
The messy production incited by Warner Bros. executives’ uncertainty surrounding the DCEU shows in the final product. The movie has only aged worse in the last nine years. Suicide Squad ended up performing relatively well at the box office, grossing over $749.2 million worldwide, but its 67% drop-off in its second weekend of release reflected the lukewarm audience response for the DC cinematic experience. Hardy’s career benefited from exiting the production because Suicide Squad ultimately became a chopped-up, muddled, and poorly received film, which could’ve potentially damaged Hardy’s career and name value.
‘Suicide Squad’ Would’ve Been a Waste of Hardy’s Talents
Hardy would not have been well-served portraying Rick Flag in Suicide Squad. Looking at the character’s overall story arc, he stands out as a paper-thin cliché. Technically, Rick Flag is the field leader of Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) Task Force X, aka the “Suicide Squad,” but Flag functions as a fairly boring, uneventful character. He’s a straight-laced, staunch, and highly disciplined soldier, torn between his duty to his country and his love for June Moone (Cara Delevingne), aka The Enchantress. There is very little chemistry or spark between June and Rick in the final cut, making it difficult to get invested in the fate of their troubled romance.
Hardy is an incredibly dynamic, intense, talented, and charismatic actor, and his considerable talents would have been wasted playing Rick. Hardy’s Rick would’ve likely worked as a slightly more serious version of his spy character from This Means War, one of Hardy’s misguided attempts at starring in a mainstream rom-com. Additionally, considering how Suicide Squad suffers from choppy editing and the studio’s butchering of the movie with reshoots, Hardy’s performance would have probably undergone even more damage. Also, in an eclectic cast featuring the likes of DC supervillains such as Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Deadshot (Will Smith), an average, normal human soldier like Flag would have been lost in the shuffle, even with a star like Hardy playing him.
Tom Hardy Dropping Out of ‘Suicide Squad’ Paid Off for His Career
Hardy’s departure from Suicide Squad to continue working on The Revenant paid off well for his career, with the film becoming a critical and commercial darling, earning over $532 million worldwide. Hardy delivers a sublime, memorable performance as Fitzgerald, showcasing his incredible talent, and it also netted him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Although Hardy did not take home the Oscar for The Revenant, the movie won three of its 12 Academy Award nominations, including Best Director for Iñárritu and Best Actor for star Leonardo DiCaprio.
While Hardy did not originally intend to leave Suicide Squad, things worked out for him in the end, and his career has continued to thrive without it. Plus, with the DCEU having come and gone, and James Gunn bringing forth a new DC Universe on the big screen, there will still be ample opportunities for Hardy to portray a much bigger and better role down the line. Imagine Hardy playing a role in Gunn’s DC Universe that is actually worthy of his talents, such as Deathstroke or John Constantine. Although Hardy as Rick Flag would’ve been underwhelming, Hardy potentially portraying a more fascinating character like Constantine sounds like a match made in heaven.
- Release Date
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August 5, 2016
- Runtime
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123 minutes
