The Suicide Squad: who is Bloodsport? We tell you about the character played by Idris Elba!
After months of speculation, we learned that villain will play Idris Elba in The Suicide Squad: Suicide Mission. And he’s not a top character, as you’d expect. It’s not Deadshot, it’s not Deathstroke. He is a little known but significant enemy of Superman: Bloodsport. And in the latest trailer, we found out he knocked out Superman with a kryptonite bullet! But who the hell is Bloodsport? If that is what you are wondering, here is the answer. Everything you need to know about this forgotten criminal and why he ended up in James Gunn’s film.
Robert DuBois, aka Bloodsport
Not to be confused with the Jean Claude Van Damme movie or other violent gun-wielding comic book characters with Blood in their name (Bloodstrike, Bloodwulf …), Bloodsport is a DC Comics villain who debuted in 1987’s Superman # . Over the years there have been different versions of the character but they all have things in common: good with weapons, gripped by mental instability problems and the habit of killing what they have in front of them.
The original Bloodsport is called Robert DuBois, who feels guilty about what happened to his brother, who went to Vietnam in his place and returned without arms and legs . DuBois becomes obsessed with war and avenging his brother, even if it means for him to shoot the Metropolis crowd. Lex Luthor takes the ball to brainwash the man, making him believe that the culprit is Superman. He also guns it to perfection so that it can put the Man of Steel in trouble.
The second Bloodsport, ironically given that the first was a black man, is instead a white supremacist named Alex Trent . He takes the mantle of his predecessor. He will also end up in jail with the first Bloodsport and challenge DuBois in a boxing match. Trent wins by deception and the use of weapons, but ends up killed by his own men for showing himself weak.
A third Bloodsport recently appeared, but his identity is unknown . Maybe in DC they resurrected DuBois or Trent, for all we know. Perhaps it will be discovered when the character makes his debut in the next Warner / DC movie.
Powers and abilities
In both versions, Bloodsport knows how to use different types of firearms and can have access to powerful technological armor. His power allows him to summon any weapon by literally teleporting it into his hands. We do not know if he will have this ability in the film, we just have to find out. Of course, to manage in the cinematic universe is not very simple, but never say never.
That Time Bloodsport Nearly Killed Superman
It is certain that Idris Elba will bring the DuBois version of Bloodsport to the screen and besides his ethnicity, the real reason is that the character has potential, as he is practically the only villain to have come close to killing Superman , which is what only Doomsday did. As told, Lex Luthor had armed the enemy with a weapon capable of firing kryptonite bullets. Bloodsport shot Superman, seriously injuring him, and could have killed him if Jimmy Olsen hadn’t intervened just in time. Luthor then had to stop his new protégé, realizing how many civilians he had killed or injured, as well as the numerous collateral damage done to Metropolis while hunting Superman.
This brings us back to the trailer, with DuBois imprisoned for trying to assassinate Superman. We doubt there will be a flashback with Henry Cavill’s cameo in the role of Superman (although it is confirmed that he will appear in future DC films) but if this story is told explicitly, Bloodsport would become a character to be feared.
The Suicide Squad: How Will The Film Adapt Bloodsport?
Being a minor character and having appeared very little outside of DC comics (a couple of animated features and a special role in an episode of Supergirl , with actor David St. Louis impersonating him) and with the general public unaware of who he might be, it is easy for the version present in The Suicide Squad to adapt only in outline the character.
Idris Elba was originally thought to play Deadshot, instead of Will Smith, but even though he’s now known to be a different character, he could bring much of Smith’s characterization with him. He is a skilled killer with weapons, but more empathetic than his fellow Task Force X, moving in a gray area between good and bad. He also has a daughter (actress Storm Reid) just like Deadshot, an affection that makes him very similar to the previous sniper character. It could end up being a Deadshot with a different name, in short. But we are curious to find out his origins and how much they will draw from the comics, as the character has a lot of potential in the economy of DC films and their mythology.
