'The Suicide Squad' Cast Adds Storm Reid As Idris Elba's Daughter

We still don't know who Idris Elba is playing in James Gunn's Suicide Squad sequel The Suicide Squad. But here's something we do know: his character has a daughter. A Wrinkle in Time actress Storm Reid has just joined The Suicide Squad cast as Elba's daughter.

This certainly seems like a holdover from the original plan to have Elba play Deadshot, since Deadshot had a daughter in the first film. But after Elba was cast as Deadshot, it was then decided to have him play a different character, in case O.G. Deadshot Will Smith might want to return for future sequels.

THR broke the news that Storm Reid is joining The Suicide Squad cast. As they report, "Plot details are being kept under wraps but it is known that Reid will play the daughter of Elba's character, which is also being kept under a cloak of mystery." Again, this gives me the impression that Gunn simply took his original script, which had Deadshot as a main character, and swapped out the character name to whomever Elba is playing now.

Reid has been acting since 2012, but she broke out in a big way with 2018's A Wrinkle in Time. She recently appeared in the Netflix mini-series When They See Us, and currently be seen in the HBO series Euphoria. She also recently joined the cast of Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man, starring Elisabeth Moss.

In addition to Reid and Elba, The Suicide Squad features Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, Viola Davis, John Cena and David Dastmalchian. The original Suicide Squad was torn apart by critics, but it also did well at the box office – well enough for Warner Bros. and DC to want a sequel. As dire as the first film was, there's hope for this sequel, thanks to the hiring of James Gunn.

Gunn landed the Suicide Squad gig after he was fired by Marvel. Marvel eventually went back on their decision, and rehired Gunn. He'll now get to make both The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. There's a touch of irony here, since Warner Bros. originally wanted to sell the first Suicide Squad as their own Guardians of the Galaxy – a quirky team-up film with not-so-well-known characters.

The Suicide Squad opens August 6, 2021.