Bloodsport Vs Deadshot: Who Is The Strongest DC Comics Character?

DC Comics' Suicide Squad was first introduced in a 1959 "Brave and the Bold" comic, while the more modern iteration of the Suicide Squad we know and love today actually began in 1987, when the series was revamped by comic writer John Ostrander. In it, B-to-C-list supervillains are drafted by a shady, clandestine organization called Task Force X to do dirty work for the United States government. The idea is so potent that the Squad has been adapted countless times, from live-action TV shows to animated films to AAA video games to two big-budget live-action features.

Two of the most prominent members of the Squad (which is a feat, considering that killing off characters is one of the hooks of the series) are also two of the deadliest assassins in the DC universe: Deadshot, aka Floyd Lawton, and Bloodsport, aka Robert DuBois. Both are amazing hand-to-hand fighters, weapon specialists, and more. Both were also essentially the main characters of their respective live-action films, with Deadshot being played by Will Smith in 2016's "Suicide Squad" and Idris Elba playing Bloodsport in 2021's "The Suicide Squad." But which of the two is the most lethal, and who would actually win in a fight to the death?

Deadshot, aka Floyd Lawton, is considered one of the deadliest assassins in the entire DC universe. He is typically depicted wearing a full, high-tech red-and-silver bodysuit with a specialized mask (usually silver with one red eye, to help with aiming), and his iconic wrist-mounted guns. This is essentially how he looks in the 2016 "Suicide Squad" film, played by Will Smith, though the film's costume is red-and-black instead of red-and-silver, and his mask is white for some reason. To be fair, his appearance does vary comic-to-comic as well. For instance, in Deadshot's first appearance in "Batman" #59 from 1950, Deadshot — at that point posing as a hero — simply wears a black suit, black top hat, and a black domino mask, sans badass wrist-mounted guns.

Unlike some of the other assassins in the DC universe, Deadshot himself does not have any superpowers or metahuman abilities to speak of. Lawton is simply a master marksman who can supposedly "never miss," accomplishing such feats as using one ricocheted bullet to kill multiple enemies at once, shooting objects from far distances with his eyes closed, and becoming an expert with any type of firearm. He can also use thrown weapons — such as knives and darts — extremely accurately as well.

Furthermore, he's adept at hand-to-hand combat, mastering multiple martial arts disciplines. He even fought Deathstroke, another powerful DC assassin with actual metahuman abilities, to a standstill. Finally, Deadshot is a master tactician, becoming the de facto leader of Task Force X.

Unlike Deadshot, multiple people have taken on the mantle of Bloodsport, including a racist named Alexander Trent and someone unnamed who only showed up briefly in the comics. However, our focus is the first person known as Bloodsport, Robert DuBois, since he is the most popular incarnation and currently the one most adapted into other media, such as the "Justice League Unlimited" animated series, the CW live-action "Supergirl" show, and, of course, 2021's "The Suicide Squad." 

The untold truth of DC's Bloodsport — first introduced in 1987 with "Superman" #4 – starts with DuBois depicted as a delusional mercenary hired by Lex Luthor to kill Superman with an experimental weapon that shoots kryptonite bullets. Bloodsport actually succeeds in shooting Superman, but not in killing him like Luthor wants. However, what really makes the device special is that it can instantaneously teleport any weapon from any place right into DuBois' hands — including high-tech LexCorp prototypes and even weapons from other dimensions.

While Will Smith once said he wanted to play Deadshot again in a second "Suicide Squad" film, that didn't happen, so Idris Elba was cast as Bloodsport in the aforementioned sequel. His powers and backstory are similar to his comic book counterpart, with some differences: rather than a device that teleports guns into his hands, his high-tech costume has nanotechnology that manifests guns instead.

Deadshot and the Robert DuBois version of Bloodshot did indeed fight each other briefly in the comics, but this can't really be used as evidence to determine who would win in a fight to the death, since it's broken up before it's even close to being finished. This particular scuffle happened in "Batman and Superman: World's Finest" #10 from the year 2000. In that issue, there's a quick scene where Bloodsport attacks a dock with an explosive weapon he teleports to himself as a way to claim the territory, while Deadshot is hired by the criminal underworld to stop Bloodsport from taking over. Their fight is basically a turf war for real estate.

The conflict begins with Bloodsport shooting at the dock with his weapon. Deadshot shows up behind him, quipping, "Drop it. Or change your name from Bloodsport to Bloodspot." DuBois isn't fazed though, responding coolly, "Always wondered which was faster, you with your wrist-magnums ... or me with my arm-transporter!" before immediately teleporting a high-tech laser gun into his hands and jumping sideways to dodge Deadshot's attack.

Deadshot is able to shoot Bloodshot's gun out of his hand, but Bloodsport instantly teleports another one in his other hand. Meanwhile, DuBois' initial laser blast blows out a nearby building, and the debris looks like it's going to topple onto Lawton — until Superman shows up to save Deadshot, and Batman takes out Bloodsport with one punch. It's a fun scene, but over way too soon — and worse, inconclusive.

It's honestly a tough call to determine who would win in a fight between Deadshot and Bloodsport. Both are expert marksmen, formidable hand-to-hand fighters, and both have access to high-tech weaponry. However, while Deadshot is shown to be the better marksman and martial artist, Bloodsport's high-tech weaponry is far superior to Deadshot's. Whether it's a device that can instantly teleport weapons into DuBois's hands as seen in the comics, or the nanotech guns he manifests from his high-tech suit in "The Suicide Squad," Deadshot's wrist-magnums (which he possesses in both the comics and film) pale in comparison either way. 

Furthermore, while Lawton is indeed the more skilled fighter in a technical sense, Bloodsport has shown to be quite strong and durable for a regular human, even taking hits from Superman himself and continuing to fight in their various scuffles. Sure, masterfully-executed kicks and punches are important in a scrap, but that becomes much less impressive when the person can take the hit and keep coming, meaning skill can matter much less than brute force sometimes.

And though the only canon scuffle we see in the comics between the two is ultimately inconclusive, it gives us some clues as well. As fast as Deadshot is on the draw, he still misses DuBois at point-blank range. Worse for Lawton, it seems he would have possibly died if Superman didn't save him at the last minute. So given his strength and far superior tech, we give this one to Bloodsport. But it's close.