Jake Gyllenhaal Turned Down a Major DCU Role in James Gunn’s Movie Before Becoming Mysterio in Spider-Man Franchise

Jake Gyllenhaal is an amazing actor who has always juggled between film and stage. He always chooses those that challenge him. Over the course of his 32-year career, he has appeared in 35 motion pictures (some of them are yet to be released) and three television programs.

He finally made the jump to superhero movies in 2019 by playing Quentin Beck a.k.a. Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Before appearing in MCU, he could have been in a DCU role but he passed on the role.

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Jake Gyllenhaal Rejected a Key DCU Role Before Opting for Mysterio in MCU

In 2015 Variety reported that Jake Gyllenhaal passed on playing Rick Flag in Suicide Squad, directed by David Ayer. Richard “Rick” Rogers Flag Jr. was a U.S. Army colonel. He is a special operations forces specialist and the field leader of the A.R.G.U.S. Though, it’s not revealed why the star scorned the role. 

Based on the cast – Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney, and Cara Delevingne, Ayer and Warner Bros. were looking for an A-List star to join the film and to lead the role. 

Gyllenhaal would be the best choice for it but the role was after all meant to be for Joel Kinnaman. Although the character of Rick Flag met his end in The Suicide Squad (2021). But before the Nightcrawler star, there was another actor who was considered for the portrayal which he also turned down.

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Tom Hardy Also Turned Down the Role of Rick Flag

It was Tom Hardy who first turned down the role of Rick Flag. Though there were several reasons that were spiralling around that time which explained the reason why he left. It was initially speculated that Hardy’s departure was tied to involvement in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s film The Revenant. As its shoot appeared to run longer than it was planned at first.

Then a report surfaced that the actor backed away from the project due to changes in script. The revisions gave more screen time to Deadshot (Will Smith) and The Joker (Jared Leto) which resulted in a reduced role for Rick Flag.

Another report disclosed a twist in the new script. In this twist, Rick Flag—initially portrayed as a watchdog overseeing Amanda Waller and her Squad—was revealed to be the main villain. He collaborates with his father, Rick Flag Sr., to steal the weapons that Waller is attempting to accumulate. So, this would have presented him as an unexpected antagonist in the narrative.

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Watch both Suicide Squad and The Suicide Squad on Prime Video.