Jake Gyllenhaal has turned down the chance to replace Tom Hardy in star-studded supervillain movie Suicide Squad, Variety reports.

Gyllenhaal, currently hot property following a much-praised turn as a cutthroat videographer in Dan Gilroy thriller Nightcrawler, was approached by studio Warner Bros after Hardy walked away from the role of weapons expert and team leader Rick Flag earlier this month. The film-makers now face a race against time to secure a high-profile replacement, with the film due to begin shooting in April for a summer 2016 release.



Suicide Squad, which is set to be directed by Fury’s David Ayer, was revealed as part of Warner’s slate of 10 movies based around the DC Comics universe in October. The original comic book, inspired by warsploitation fare such as The Dirty Dozen, is about a team of traditional DC supervillains recruited to take on suicide black-ops missions in return for the commutation of their sentences.

Even without Gyllenhaal the movie retains a sumptuous cast. Oscar-winner Jared Leto becomes the first actor since The Dark Knight’s late Heath Ledger to play the Joker on the big screen, while Will Smith portrays hired assassin Deadshot. The Wolf of Wall Street’s Margot Robbie will play Batman villain Harley Quinn, with fellow Australian Jay Courtney as Boomerang and Britain’s Cara Delevingne as Enchantress.

Further star names could yet be added. There are suggestions that Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, set to make his debut in the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, could make an appearance. Rumours also abound of a cameo appearance by the caped crusader himself, in the form of new Batman Ben Affleck.