Will Smith portrays Deadshot, a character traditionally depicted as white in the source material and games like Arkham, representing a straightforward race swap without narrative justification tied to the story. Viola Davis plays Amanda Waller, aligning with the character's established African American identity in comics, while Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn receives prominent screen time as a capable yet objectified antiheroine whose arc centers on her relationship with the Joker rather than identity politics.

David Ayer's on-set comments emphasize traditional comic aesthetics of hyper-masculine men and feminine women, explicitly rejecting any push against genre tropes and focusing instead on character dynamics like family motivation for Deadshot. Reception signals confirm the absence of centrality: critics lambasted the film for poor plotting, excessive gore, and misogynistic framing of female characters rather than activist messaging, with only scattered audience complaints about the Deadshot casting in forums labeling it tokenistic. No creator statements highlight DEI mandates or systemic oppression themes, and the narrative remains a standard team-assembly action story with incidental diversity that feels secondary to the villain redemption and government exploitation plot points.