'Suicide Squad' Costar Will Smith is Dressed to Kill as Deadshot

Will Smith on the Toronto set (Splash)

Will Smith is bringing some Big Willie style to his role as a deadly assassin in Suicide Squad. Smith was photographed on set Wednesday in costume as Floyd Lawton, a.k.a. the supervillain Deadshot (above). With his red leather coat, broad-brim fedora, and giant gold belt buckle, Smith’s character is giving off a decidedly more retro vibe than Jared Leto’s heavily tattooed joker. The costume also bears an unintentional resemblance to Smiths’s cowboy fashions from the infamous 1999 bomb Wild Wild West, particularly the similarly-colored ensemble he wore to sing the theme song at the MTV Movie Awards (see video at the bottom). Another photo shows off Smith’s commitment to the role of Deadshot, in the form of his shaved head and new beard, below.

A newly shorn Smith (Splash)

Smith’s Deadshot look doesn’t really resemble the current comic version of the DC character, with his colorful metallic costume and prosthetic eye, which might be too close to another armored hero from a rival studio.

DC’s current Deadshot (DC)

However, the filmmakers could be playing homage to the older incarnation of the assassin’s costume (which was also the version of the killer who showed up in the Superman TV series Smallville), with Smith’s character getting his signature eyeball upgrade later on in the film or via post-production CGI.

‘Batman: Gotham Knight’ (DC/Warner Bros.)

In Suicide Squad, the next DC Comics-Warner Bros movie to hit theaters after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a band of super-villains is recruited to work together on a secret government mission. In addition to Smith and Leto, the film features Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, and Viola Davis as government agent Amanda Waller. Yesterday, Ben Affleck was spied on set in Toronto, lending credence to the rumors that his Bruce Wayne character will make an appearance in the film (therefore bringing additional, Marvel Universe-style continuity between Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad). A rumored appearance by Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor has yet to be confirmed.

Suicide Squad opens in theaters on August 5, 2016.