WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Suicide Squad #1 by Robbie Thompson, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Marcelo Maiolo, and Wes Abbott, on sale now.
Amanda Waller has never been the sentimental type, and the mastermind behind Task Force X has seemingly already begun looking for a replacement to long-time Squad-member Deadshot after his death at the hands of Black Mask. While he has already appeared on the silver screen in 2016's Suicide Squad, it looks as if another future DCEU star will be taking his place both in and outside of comics.
In Suicide Squad #1, Rick Flag is upset with Waller, claiming she has finally gone too far with all her super-schemes to save the world. When asked why she's doing this, she simply responds that she is tired, and as she does, three people are clearly visible on a screen behind her. One is an unidentified woman who appears to be the vampiric Nocturna, another is the ex-Court of Owls assassin Talon, and the final person is the Superman enemy Bloodsport.
While several costumed villains have taken up the name, this Bloodsport is a man named Robert Dubois in 1987's Superman #4, by John Byrne and Karl Kessel. While he was a skilled combatant and excellent marksman, Dubois feared death, leading him to evade being drafted into the Vietnam War while his brother Michael took his place. Michael suffered horrific injuries, and Robert went mad from the guilt, becoming obsessed with Vietnam and spending years in a mental institution. He was later contacted by Lex Luthor, who wanted to exploit his mental state to condition him to kill Superman.
Dubois took on the name Bloodsport and convinced himself he had fought alongside his brother in Vietnam, feeling as if the people of America had wasted the freedom he had created for them. Equipped with a device that could teleport a huge variety of weapons to him, he began indiscriminately killing innocents in Metropolis and even managed to injure Superman with a kryptonite bullet. He was eventually captured and sent to Stryker's Island but was apparently killed by one of the guards during an attempted prison break.
However, Robert DuBois has been brought back to life in the Infinite Frontier era, and he's has appeared on Amanda Waller's radar. Judging from the fact that one of the other people on her screen was Talon, it seems like Waller is actively recruiting Bloodsport. With Deadshot's death, a position has become available in Task Force X for a sharpshooter, and with his skills and huge selection of weapons to chose from, DuBois could fill this slot with ease. Floyd did have more of a leading role in the Squad, but with Bloodsport's issues, it's unlikely he will take on that much responsibility, leaving Peacemaker the clear leader of the villainous group.
Later this year, Idris Elba is set to take on the role of DuBois in this year's The Suicide Squad. Already described as having more weapons than anyone else in the film, it'll be interesting to see if he retains his teleporting arsenal from the comics, and he may even reflect some of the more tragic aspects of his character, potentially swapping out Vietnam for a more recent conflict.
In both comics and film, Bloodsport seems like the kind of mentally fragile, intensely violent and easily manipulated recruit who is perfect for Waller's team.
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