Villain Profile: Deadshot

Other than the scope-eye placement, great
costume.

What do you get when you combine killer accuracy with an amoral personality? You get Deathstroke. Or Bullseye. Or the Punisher. Or even Hawkeye in some iterations. I’m getting off track here, we’re talking about Deadshot today. I just used that little intro to point out that there are a few characters that boast skills on or above Deadshot’s own. Just keep that in mind. Let’s get to it.

Deadshot began life as Floyd Lawton. Oh my, that’s right up there with Leonard Snart on the list of worst real names ever. Lawton’s father was an abusive SOB that regularly beat Lawton and his beloved older brother. During one of his father’s outbursts, where he beat the older son, Lawton decided to take matters into his own hands. He grabbed his father’s hunting rifle, climbed a tree, and took aim at his hated sire. But, when Lawton pulled the trigger, the branch he sat on snapped, and he plummeted to the ground. This also caused his shot to arc wildly, and strike his brother instead. While it hasn’t been stated outright, its believed by many that it was the death of his brother that caused Lawton to perfect his marksmanship and why he seems to have no regard for his own life. Killing a relative will have that effect on a boy.

Years later, Floyd Lawton somehow amassed a sizeable fortune, and set up shop in Gotham City. When Batman and Robin were out of the city on vacation, it was the 50s Batman did a lot of goofy stuff back then, Lawton decided to make his move. He dressed up in a tailored suit, top hat, and little domino mask, stopped a robbery with his trick shooting skills, and introduced himself to the police and mayor as Deadshot. Despite the incredibly aggressive moniker, the Mayor chose to trust Deadshot, and even went so far as to replace the Bat-Signal with a Shot-Signal. Bullseye Signal? Target Signal? Whatever, Deadshot became a bigtime hero in Batman’s absence. When the Dark Knight returned, he was very suspicious of the new “vigilante superhero.” His suspicions panned out when, after tracking Lawton to his home, he discovered that Lawton was planning on killing Batman and becoming the criminal overlord of Gotham. Batman was able publicly expose Lawton, and saw him sent to prison.

People took him seriously in this?
Really?

This turned out to be a pretty bad idea. While in prison, Lawton trained constantly to improve his strength and fighting skills for his next confrontation with Batman. He was able to escape prison with the unwilling help of the Penguin. Lawton stole a special, laser firing monocle that the Penguin had smuggled into prison to facilitate his escape. My question, what idiot let the Penguin keep a monocle in his cell? Do prisoners get to keep specialized eye-wear like that? Anyway, Lawton fashioned a new red costume, complete with a creepy one eyed mask, and set his scope on Batman once again. The two battled across Gotham City, and Batman came out on top. This time, when he was sent to prison, he was intercepted by a few government officials. Seeing his skills as a marksman, and his complete disregard for human life, someone in the upper echelon of shady government deals decided to offer him a deal. Deadshot would have to perform a suicide mission, in exchange for a reduced sentence. Lawton agreed, and became a member of the Suicide Squad. Deadshot excels as a member of the Suicide Squad, and becomes a regular on the roster. Not sure if he’s happy with that or not, as part of the reason he joined was to die. Apparently he’d developed some kind of “Hate life” complex, and, while he didn’t want to commit suicide, he didn’t care whether he lived or died. He almost got his wish, however, with one mission.

There was a powerful Senator that had threatened to expose the Suicide Squad to the general public. Lawton’s immediate Superior, Rick Flag, didn’t take this kind of threat too kindly, and set out to kill the Senator. Lawton was ordered to stop Flag, by any means. His means? Kill the Senator himself. When questioned later, he stated that his mission was “Stop Flag from Killing the Senator. Exact Words.” That’s some crazy, Terminator/I, Robot movie rule bending right there. Lawton was gunned down at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial by police, but survived his wounds and continued working for the Suicide Squad.

It's raining Lead, Hallelujah,
It's raining Lead. 

The last thing I’ll mention is Deadshot’s daughter. Apparently he’d had a fling with a woman years ago, that resulted in his daughter, Zoe. I imagine his reaction went something like this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGSIzFEFK6Y. Just replace Son with Daughter. But, he was not so happy to learn that he lived in one of the more…scummy districts of Star City. Deadshot decided to clean up the neighborhood. After killing a few thugs, getting the attention of Green Arrow, and then faking his death, yet again, Deadshot slipped back into the woodwork. Knowing that Green Arrow would patrol the area more often seemed to relieve Lawton’s consciences. So he could kill more people. Priorities.

Deadshot is an expert assassin and marksman. While he has a number of deadly firearms, he’s best known for his high powered sniper rifle, and a pair of machine guns mounted to his wrists. He once pulled a William Tell, shooting an apple off of someone’s head, but while also being blindfolded. After his first appearance, he’s trained in hand-to-hand combat, and is now more or less on par with Batman.

Deadshot has made a number of appearances outside of the comics. Interestingly, I don’t think there’s been a single version that has had a particular history or grudge with Batman. Much like Deathstroke, he’s kind of evolved past his initial concept. He has fought Batman on several occasions, but I’ve just never noticed the intensity that his history implies.

He appeared as a character in Justice League: Unlimited. In his first episode, “The Enemy Below” he was hired to assassinate Aquaman. After the second or third attempt, he’s chased down by the Justice League and is forced to reveal who hired him. He later appeared as a background villain in “Hereafter.” He’s one of many baddies celebrating the supposed death of Superman by rioting in Metropolis. Personally, with guys like the Flash, Batman, and Green Lantern running around, I’d have held off on the celebrating. In “Task Force X” he’s recruited by Colonel Rick Flag, Jr. as a part of said Task Force. He’s pretty much forced to go along when he learns that his last meal was laced with nano-explosives. The Mission of the Task Force is to steal The Annihilator, a magical war machine that the Justice League had stashed away in the Watchtower. They break into the JL’s floating fortress, and steal the suit. He’s rather “annoyed” to learn that he’ll need to work for five years before getting his sentence suspended. But, he seems to have escaped capture after Task Force X’s backer, Project Cadmus, dissolved.

Lawton is a minor villain in the final season of Smallville. In his first episode “Shield” he’s got his sights set on reporters Clark Kent, and Cat Grant. Imagine his surprise when Clark turns out to be Bulletproof. He’s a background character after that, working alongside Rick Flag and the Suicide Squad.  

Green Arrow needs to watch his back.

I’d say his biggest appearance to date is in Arrow. He’s the second major villain that Oliver Queen encounters after dawning his mysterious Green Hood. They battle across Starling City, and the fight ends with Deadshot apparently killed. He returns in “Dead to Rights” where it’s revealed that Oliver just seemed to have left him blind in his right eye. He’s given a new targeting device in the form of a red cybernetic eye. He’s hired to assassinate billionaire Malcolm Merlyn, but is once again foiled by Oliver. He later joins the Suicide Squad. This series also introduced a sort of rivalry between him and original character John Diggle. Apparently, Diggle’s brother had been killed by Deadshot years ago, and after discovering it was Deadshot that had done the deed, swears vengeance. Things get more complicated when they’re forced to work together on the Suicide Squad.

He was the “main” character in Batman: Assault on Arkham. He’s put on a team with Harley Quinn, Killer Frost, King Shark, Captain Boomerang, and Black Spider. He’s apparently worked with the Squad before, as he’s unsurprised when he’s captured for the team. He’s tasked with stealing the Riddler’s Cane from Arkham Assylum, which has a flashdrive on it containing sensitive information about the Suicide Squad. He’s the de facto leader of the group, which does accomplish its mission, despite a few hiccups.

A Suicide Squad movie is set to release in August of this year. This version of Floyd Lawton is going to be played by Hollywood Heavyweight Will Smith. Did I just make that reference because he also played Muhammad Ali? You bet I did. There’s just one small thing about the movie promos thus far that makes me nervous. It’s a silly little thing, completely pointless really, but… his scope eye is on the wrong side. I know, minor nitpick, but in my experience, it’s little changes like that that hint at much, much bigger problems. Like making Pa Kent “Okay” with Clark letting people die, which leads to unconvincing Dark Superman. Just saying.

Honestly, not the biggest fan of Deadshot. I feel that his skill set, while impressive, is handled better by guys like Deathstroke and even Hawkeye. As I said in the opening, there are a lot of characters with killer accuracy, it’s really not that new of an idea. I am also not the biggest fan of how a lot of series bring up his daughter. Not sure how most people respond to it, but for me, it’s like seeing Sandman’s daughter in Spider-Man 3. A transparent attempt to make me believe that an otherwise awful human being “isn’t all that bad” and sympathize with him. If’s he’s a stonecold killer, go with it, if he’s a loving father using the only skill he has to provide for his child, go with it, I’m just not a fan of this mix and mash stuff. That being said, it should be interesting to see how Will Smith’s character holds up against the other versions. Provided he has enough screen time to be fleshed out. What? He’s sharing the screen with the Joker and Harley, if those two aren’t trying to steal the show in every scene, they’re doing something wrong. He’s the master marksman, the cold contract killer, the impeccable Deadshot. Next time, Batman’s avian themed baddie, The Penguin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadshot#/media/File:Deadshot_will_smith.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Original_Deadshot.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadshot#/media/File:A_prime_pic_of_Deadshot.png

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4f/Deadshot_in_arrow.jpg