The Suicide Squad Almost Didn't Feature Rick Flag's Return

There is little doubt that Rick Flag was an important part of The Suicide Squad. However, there was a time when the character was almost written out of the DC Extended Universe flick and it was all because of Joel Kinnaman's schedule.

Flag is one of the four returning main characters from 2016's Suicide Squad and it would make sense considering that he's working for Viola Davis' Amanda Waller. But things almost didn't work out so well as Kinnaman found himself with a hectic schedule.

Kinnaman recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter while promoting The Suicide Squad and he revealed that he almost didn't appear in the film. The Altered Carbon star explained that he was also scheduled to work on For All Mankind when the James Gunn film needed to be shot.

"It was a really tricky scheduling thing, and it took them several months to figure it out," Kinnaman said. He then revealed that there were plans to write his character out of the film.

"There were actually people at Warner Bros. that told James, 'We might have to rewrite this because the scheduling is not going to work out.' So I was definitely on edge, but then they figured it out," Kinnaman said.

It's awesome to know that everything worked out in the end. After all, we got to see how Flag had changed since his previous mission and he got to prove that he is a good man right until the end. Needless to say, The Suicide Squad wouldn't have been the same without Kinnaman.

Although Kinnaman managed to work things out with his schedule, we can't say the same thing about Will Smith. Deadshot was initially set to return in The Suicide Squad but Smith had to bow out due to scheduling conflicts. This led to Idris Elba being brought in as his replacement but that later changed as Elba was cast as Bloodsport instead.

The Suicide Squad is now screening in theaters and on HBO Max.

Related: The Suicide Squad Finally Reveals Taika Waititi's Role In The Film