The Suicide Squad cast revealed by director James Gunn; Taika Waititi, Pete Davidson, Idris Elba part of line-up

Filmmaker James Gunn has officially unveiled the sprawling 24-member cast of DC-Warner Bros’ The Suicide Squad, confirming that Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman and Viola Davis will reprise the roles in the sequel to the 2016 movie. Among the others who have joined the film are Taika Waititi, Peter Capaldi, Idris Elba, John Cena, Storm Reid, Pete Davidson, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior and Nathan Fillion. Check out the announcement here

Interestingly, Taika was also the director of Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Thor: Ragnarok, and will also be helming the next instalment in the franchise,  Thor 4 . He also played the fan-favourite Korg in Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame. Idris Elba, too, was part of the MCU and portrayed the role of  Heimdall in Thor and its sequels Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok, as well as Avengers: Age of Ultron and Avengers: Infinity War. Other notable Marvel alums include Michael Rooker (Yondu), Sean Gunn (Kraglin), Dastmalchian (Kurt) and Steve Agee (Gef). However, Will Smith, who played Deadshot in Suicide Squad, will not be returning in the sequel. While it was earlier speculated that Idris Elba will be taking on Deadshot's characte r, it was later clarified that he will essay a new role , who will also have a daughter, played by Reid. The new Suicide Squad film will be directed by filmmaker  James Gunn , who is best known for helming  Guardians of the Galaxy  series. He has also penned the script, which tells the story of a group of supervillains forced by the government to work for good and save mankind, according to Variety. The studio finalised the sequel’s release date to be 6 August, 2021. Production is slated to start in Atlanta this month.