Last month, it was reported that Idris Elba had joined the Suicide Squad sequel as a replacement for Will Smith, who would not be reprising his role as Deadshot.

Well, there's now been a bit of a rethink on the superhero movie, and it seems that Elba won't be playing Deadshot after all. According to Variety, Elba will instead be playing a new brand character in the sequel, which is titled The Suicide Squad.

It's not too difficult to get on board with the decision: this way, Elba gets to originate a character of his own, and the door remains open for Smith to return to the franchise in the future. But sadly, we don't know at this stage what role Elba actually will be playing!

The only three cast members from the original Suicide Squad movie expected to return for the sequel are Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), and Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang).

Guardians of the Galaxy's James Gunn is on board to write and direct the sequel, and is said to be in the process of casting the remaining "squad" members. Shooting is due to start in the fall for a release date of August 6, 2021.

Keeping busy as ever, Elba has also signed up to play a mouse – via a motion-capture performance, of course – in upcoming comic book movie Mouse Guard.

But his very next assignment is his pair of DJ sets at this month's Coachella Festival, which takes April 12-14 and 19-21 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Bring it on!

Are you excited to hear that Idris Elba will be originating his own character in the Suicide Squad sequel?