Christopher Nolan’s movies are as admired for their peculiarly impressive antagonist as they are for their well-crafted protagonist.
Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan.
Cillian Murphy is already getting Oscar shouts for his performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer. But so is Robert Downey Jr. for his brilliant portrayal of Lewis Strauss, who served as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and had a different political worldview than the theoretical physicist.

Similarly, Murphy stood out in Batman Begins (2005) as Scarecrow. And who can forget the late Heath Ledger’s iconic Joker in The Dark Knight (2008)?

Why Christopher Nolan’s Batman 3 Villain Was Dropped From Suicide Squad

Tom Hardy completed the esteemed list of unforgettable villains in the DC-backed The Dark Knight Trilogy by playing Bane in The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Bane, a self-proclaimed liberator of pain and accomplice of Talia Al Ghul, was a terrorist who tried to destroy Gotham City.
The Dark Knight Rises actor Tom Hardy.
The Englishman played his part to great effect, leaving fans wanting more. Accordingly, he was in line to make his second appearance in a DC movie, Suicide Squad (2016).

However, the plans of director David Ayer changed following Will Smith‘s introduction to the project. Reflecting on his own role in the movie about a team of incarcerated super-villains, Fury star Shia LaBeouf said:

“The character was different initially. Then Will [Smith] came in, and the script changed a bit. That character and Tom [Hardy’s] character got written down to build Will up.” 

LaBeouf’s role ultimately went to Scott Eastwood. Meanwhile, Joel Kinnaman, who played tritagonist Colonel Rick Flag, replaced Hardy.

Kinnaman reprised his role in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (2021) as well, meaning the Batman 3 villain missed out on not just his second but also potentially third DC appearance.

What Is Will Smith’s Role in Suicide Squad

The emphasis on the importance of Smith’s role in Suicide Squad might have been bad news for Hardy fans, but it worked like a charm for DC as the movie proved to be a huge success, making $747 million at the global box office.
Will Smith at the Oscars.
The Hancock star starred as Floyd Lawton/Deadshot, who joins hands with the likes of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) to form Task Force X and fight a mysterious entity.

Known as the “most wanted hitman in the world” and the old enemy of Batman (something for Hardy’s Bane to admire), the character of Deadshot was represented to the tee by Smith. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, The Pursuit of Happyness actor couldn’t return for the sequel, The Suicide Squad.

New characters like Idris Elba’s Bloodsport were brought in to fill Smith’s void, but things didn’t pan out as wished and Gunn’s movie turned out to be a huge disaster at the box office.