'The Suicide Squad': Who is Bloodsport? Idris Elba's character nearly killed Superman in comics
Since it was announced that Idris Elba will be a part of James Gunn’s upcoming movie ‘The Suicide Squad’, there were a lot of rumors doing rounds on which DC character he will be portraying in the film. The movie is a standalone sequel to David Ayer’s ‘Suicide Squad’ which was released in 2016.
However, during the company’s virtual event DC Fandome, it was revealed that Elba will be playing the role of supervillain Bloodsport in the upcoming project. Bloodsport is considered to be an adversary of Superman in DC Comics and the most notable incarnation was Robert DuBois. Interestingly, the ‘Luther’ star will be seen playing the DuBois version of the supervillain in ‘The Suicide Squad’.
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Elba is not new to the world of superhero movies. He was an integral part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and portrayed Heimdall in ‘Thor’ movie series. This will be the first time he’ll be a part of the DC Extended Universe. So, let’s take a look at Elba’s character in the movie.
Who is Bloodsport?
According to comics, Bloodsport is an alias used by various supervillains in the DC Universe. Created by writer and artist John Byrne, the original Bloodsport first appeared in ‘Superman’ vol. 2, #4, in 1987. He is an old comic-book character, but people still don’t know much about him.
In his first appearance, DuBois open fire on a crowded diner the day before Christmas Eve, killing twenty-five civilians--including children. After the mass shooting, DuBois shares the story of the Vietnam War and we get to know he had a mental breakdown after witnessing all the horrifying things that happened during the battle. As far as the shooting is concerned, the Man of Steel did reach the scene and tried to fight him. However, he underestimated the abilities of Bloodsport and was pretty close to losing his life.
Superman’s arch-nemesis Lex Luthor contacted Bloodsport and told him to assassinate the Kryptonian. They also equipped DuBois with an arsenal of powerful, advanced weapons, including a gun that fired needles of Kryptonite. In his first clash with Superman, Bloodsport severely weakened him with a Kryptonite bullet.
When they met each other for the second time, Bloodsport literally went crazy and started killing everyone and anyone who came along the way. In the process, we find out that DuBois never went to Vietnam, instead, his brother took place in the military and lost his hands and limbs during the war. While battling Superman, Bloodsport was on a killing spree and everyone felt that he would go insane. However, Superman's friend Jimmy Olsen had learned of Bloodsport's true identity and located his brother.
Confronted by Michael, Bloodsport collapsed in grief and was taken into custody.
Meanwhile, the second version of the character came in the form of Alex Trent. He was a fanatical racist and belonged to a white supremacist group. Trent takes the name of Bloodsport and gets a similar teleporter inserted into his body. The teleporter can be used to summon weapons. The two Bloodsports eventually met in prison, and DuBois nearly killed Trent in a fight but is stopped by Superman.
What are his abilities?
Robert DuBois aka Bloodsport has no superpowers, but he has proven to be an extraordinary hand-to-hand combatant. Whenever he has fought with Superman, he has given a tough time to the Man of Steel even when he possesses superpowers. Additionally, the possession of a device that enables him to summon weapons anywhere makes him even deadlier. He is incredibly strong and significantly more durable than the average human. Comic-book fans sometimes compare him with Deadshot in terms of being accurate with firearms.
Who plays Bloodsport in ‘The Suicide Squad’?
Golden Globe-winning actor Idris Elba will be portraying the character of Bloodsport in ‘The Suicide Squad’. Elba is one of the prominent actors in Hollywood right now and has given several amazing performances.
The actor entered the superhero world by making an appearance in the first ‘Thor’ movie in 2011 and played the role of Heimdall. He reprised the role in the sequel as well.
It will be interesting to see if the movie version of Robert DuBois will be as brutal as shown in comics or not.
‘The Suicide Squad’ will be coming to theatres and HBO Max on August 6.