How Arrow’s Deadshot Is Different To Will Smith’s In Suicide Squad
How does the Arrowverse Deadshot compare to the DCEU version played by Will Smith in Suicide Squad and which one is truer to the comic book character?
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How does the Arrowverse version of Deadshot compare to his counterpart in the DCEU Suicide Squad movie, and which one is truer to the character in the comics? Floyd Lawton first appeared in Batman #59 in June 1950, where he attempted to replace Batman in the hearts and minds of the people of Gotham City as a dapperly dressed vigilante in a tuxedo, top-hat, and domino mask. Deadshot was later exposed as having been conspiring with several gangs to round up their rivals, while distracting the police from more serious crimes.
Deadshot then escaped from prison and became one of the world’s most infamous assassins, eventually being recaptured and recruited into Amanda Waller’s Suicide Squad. Lawton was briefly married to a woman named Susan and had a son, Edward, who was murdered by criminals who tried (and failed) to blackmail Deadshot into working for them for free. Distraught and guilty after his ex-wife committed suicide, Lawton developed a death wish which was mitigated only after he discovered that he had a daughter named Zoe by a call-girl in Star City he frequented between jobs. Lawton tried to keep himself out of Zoe’s life as much as possible but did set aside his earnings to pay for her schooling. To his dismay, she decided to follow in his footsteps, training her own natural marksman skills to become a hero called Liveshot.
The Deadshot of the DCEU, played by Will Smith, barely touched upon any of this background apart from his having a daughter named Zoe and an ex-wife, who was not named. This Deadshot took a direct hand in trying to raise his daughter, until he was arrested in front of her by Batman. Will Smith’s take on Floyd Lawton was also far less dour than the Deadshot of the comics, though he did display the same eye for detail and assassin’s code of honor in getting the job done right once he had been paid. By contrast, the Deadshot of the Arrowverse, played by Michael Rowe, was a decidedly dark figure, though his background was quite different from the comics.
The Arrowverse’s version of Floyd Lawton was a former US Army soldier who returned home from an overseas deployment with undiagnosed PTSD and became an alcoholic. He was imprisoned after he lost his temper and threatened his wife. It was here that he was freed by the criminal organization HIVE and recruited to become a hired-gun. Lawton soon developed a reputation for ruthless efficiency and the nickname Deadshot, as well as the quirk of tattooing the name of each of his victims somewhere on his body. Despite this, he still put most of his money into a trust to take care of the family he’d lost.
Even taking this original background into account, the Arrowverse’s version of Deadshot was closer in tone and temperament to the comics than the character Will Smith played in Suicide Squad. While both characters captured the essence of Lawton as a master sniper, only the Arrowverse truly went the extra mile to emulate the heart of darkness within Floyd Lawton and the paradoxical conflict that made him strive to be a good father by providing for his daughter even as he tried to stay away from her. While Smith’s take on Deadshot was arguably a better father and a more likeable character, it also wasn’t really true to the Floyd Lawton of the comics: a troubled man who knows he is troubled and will do whatever it takes to spare his daughter that trouble, even at the cost of his own happiness and well-being.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/arrow-deadshot-suicide-squad-will-smith-differences-comparison/