"I was working on Suicide Squad during that time," he said of learning of his character's fate

Now We Know Why Will Smith Isn't in Independence Day Sequel – and He's Lamenting His Character's Fate: 'It Was Terrible When I Found Out'

You will always be remembered, Steven Hiller.

After Will Smith was noticeably missing in the trailer for the upcoming sequel to Independence Day, it was confirmed that the actor’s alien-killing alter ego would not be appearing in Independence Day: Resurgence, because, sadly, he’s dead.

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And it turns out, Smith, 47, was just as shocked by the news as fans.

“I was working on Suicide Squad during that time,” he told Yahoo! Movies of learning of his character’s fate.

According to the War of 1996 website, Hiller’s obituary reads: “While test piloting the ESD’s first alien hybrid fighter, an unknown malfunction causes the untimely death of Col. Hiller. Hiller’s valor in the War of ’96 made him a beloved global icon whose selfless assault against the alien mothership lead directly to the enemy’s defeat. He is survived by his wife Jasmine and his son Dylan.”

And Smith didn’t take the news of his character’s death lightly. In fact, Smith said he and Independence Day director Roland Emmerich “had talked” about the possibility of working together on the sequel.

“The trailer looks really cool. I’m going to be sitting around with tears in my eyes when that one comes out,” he said. “It was terrible when I found out my character died.”

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Emmerich explained that Smith would not be part of the film because “he’s too expensive.”

“It would be too much,” the director told the New York Daily News in 2013. “We have like maybe half of the people that you know would know from the first film [in the script] and the other half people who are new.”