Having worked with James Gunn briefly on 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, making a cameo appearance as Martinex in the post-credits scene, it seems that former Smallville star Michael Rosenbaum was offered the opportunity to reunite with Gunn – and rejoin the DC universe – with a role in next year’s DCEU sequel The Suicide Squad.
“It was close,” said Rosenbaum in an interview with Comic Book. “Let’s just say I supposed to be in it, but I had neck surgery and I couldn’t do a role. I couldn’t do the roll because it was too physical at that time, and I couldn’t jeopardize my neck, but there was the role. I won’t say the role, but there was the role. James is always so gracious and kind and reached out and so I think when the time’s right, look it’s nice when your friends think of you, it’s nice when your friends have a part.”
This is the second DC opportunity that Rosenbaum has turned down recently, having also rejected the chance to reprise his Smallville role as Lex Luthor in last year’s Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths.
SEE ALSO: James Gunn read every Suicide Squad comic ahead of filming the DC sequel movie
Despite missing out on The Suicide Squad, he could find himself working with Gunn again shortly however on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, as the actor revealed earlier this week that he believes the plan was always to set up Sylvester Stallone’s Ravager team (which included Rosenbaum, Michelle Yeoh, Ving Rhames and Miley Cyrus) for a return in a future movie.
The Suicide Squad sees James Gunn directing a cast that includes Suicide Squad returnees Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag) and Viola Davis (Amanda Waller) as well as new DCEU additions Idris Elba, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Nathan Fillion, Taika Waititi, Jennifer Holland, David Dastmalchian, Joaquín Cosío, Mayling Ng, Flula Borg, Juan Diego Botto, Storm Reid, John Cena, Pete Davidson, Tinashe Kajese, Daniela Melchior, Julio Ruiz, Steve Agee, Michael Rooker, and Sean Gunn.
