The DC FanDome panel for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad revealed a slew of new information about the upcoming movie, including a full cast list for the new Task Force X. But one of the most interesting details involves Idris Elba’s character Bloodsport–specifically the reason for his arrest, as the only person foolish enough to try to shoot Superman with a kryptonite bullet.
There have been a few versions of Bloodsport seen in the pages of DC Comics over the years, but it’s the original whom fans now know. Because believe it or not, Robert DuBois truly was the man known for shooting the Man of Steel with a bullet in DC canon.
DuBois’ Bloodsport first appeared in Superman Vol 2 #4 by John Byrne back in 1987. The character is initially depicted as a vengeful veteran of the Vietnam War, angry at the people of Metropolis for their “senseless waste of the freedoms we died to protect for you!” Jimmy Olsen, a witness of Bloodsport’s first attack, calls in Superman, who quickly catches up to Bloodsport and disarms him. Bloodsport then materializes another gun out of thin air, but Superman thinks nothing of it. “There’s no handgun on Earth that can harm me!” he says. Unfortunately, he spoke just a little too soon.
Bloodsport proceeds to shoot Superman in the shoulder, but instead of ricocheting off him like usual, the bullet actually penetrates his skin. Bloodsport reveals that the gun is loaded with bullets made of kryptonite. He nearly puts another one right in Superman’s head, but Jimmy Olsen intervenes wielding Bloodsport’s other weapon, causing the villain to flee. Afterward, while recovering in the hospital, Superman deduces that there’s only one man who could have supplied Bloodsport with bullets made of kryptonite: Lex Luthor. Turns out, Superman is right – his arch-nemesis is indeed the man behind Bloodsport.
However, Lex only wanted him to kill Superman, not slaughter innocent civilians, but Bloodsport proved to be too insane to control. Luthor sends men to terminate Bloodsport before he can kill anyone else, but Superman finds him first. Luckily, Bloodsport decides he doesn’t need kryptonite bullets to finish the job and tries to take Superman on without them. He nearly sets off a bomb that could blow up ten square miles of the city, but Jimmy Olsens saves the day (for the second time in the issue) by showing up with Bloodsport’s brother, Mickey, who convinces Robert to give up the fight.
It’s unknown if the scene of Bloodsport shooting Superman will actually be in The Suicide Squad or just mentioned as part of Bloodsport’s backstory, but either way, it’s nice to know the movie will be loyal to the source material.
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