Where Did Will Smith Go Wrong? (And Can He Make A Comeback?)

For the past few years, Will Smith‘s career has needed a superhero. Literally.

The rapper-turned-movie star, who was once nicknamed “Big Willie Weekend” and “Mr. July” for his bankability leading the summer blockbuster, has spent the last few years struggling to find a sense of relevance. His most recent string of films — After Earth, Winter’s Tale, Focus, and Concussion — all failed to generate massive buzz at the box office. This weekend Smith is hoping to give his career a jolt of adrenaline with the highly-anticipated film Suicide Squad. Smith plays Deadshot, a supervillain with a code of a honor who is enlisted in a gonzo mission to save the world. A lot is riding on Smith’s performance in the film. If audiences embrace this rebooted Will Smith, he will have successfully clawed back into the limelight. If not, he might have to accept that his golden years as a movie star are finally over.

So how did he get to this position? How does a beloved actor fall from grace?

As we laid it out in early 2015, Will Smith’s problems don’t boil down to poor choices or some image-wrecking gaffe. Instead, he’s a victim of bad timing. In 2008, Smith decided to take a break from acting. Unfortunately, Mr. Smith’s extended vacation coincided with the start of a big cultural shift in Hollywood. 2008 is the year that Twilight, Iron Man, and The Dark Knight came out. Ironically, Smith put forward an offbeat, original superhero tale, Hancock, that year. It did great at the box office: it was the fourth most popular film and made over a quarter of a billion dollars in the United States. However, those other three flicks were spearheading a new era of blockbusters. Since then, it’s all been superheroes and plucky young action heroines. Movie stars no longer draw viewers to the movie theatre; beloved characters like Captain America and Katniss Everdeen do.

So where does that leave Will Smith? Well, joining an expansive ensemble in the troubled Suicide Squad.

Right now Suicide Squad is teetering towards possible disaster. Early tracking suggests that the film will make lots of money, but critics are panning it. Right now, Rotten Tomatoes is giving it a 32% rating (causing DC loyalists to campaign for the site’s destruction). By most accounts, though, Smith is a bright spot in the otherwise messy film. Richard Lawson at Vanity Fair writes that Smith is “still pulsating with charisma 20-plus years into a storied career.” It seems that Smith is eager to remind America what a real old fashioned movie star looks like. A friend of mine attended the film’s junket and tweeted that Smith made a point to graciously introduce himself to each and every journalist. Old school moves from an old school movie star in a brand new media age:

Yes, Smith wants us to remember what the good old days were like. These were the times before Snapchat stories and Instagram wars. It was then that Smith was a king. Smith not only used his tour of the late night shows this week to blast Donald Trump, but he serenaded us with his feel-good classic, “Summertime.” AGAIN: WILL SMITH WANTS YOU TO REMEMBER HOW GREAT HE IS.

Yes, Will Smith is fighting for his comeback and he’s making a convincing case. He is effortlessly charming and delighted to entertain us. Between his music, television, and film careers, he’s cemented himself forever in our pop culture consciousness. All he has to do is figure out how to streamline his old movie star ways into this bold new world of larger-than-life characters.

Suicide Squad might not get him entirely where he used to be, but then, he can’t ever totally get back to where he used to be. He’s never again going to be “Big Willie Weekend.” He can, however, still be “Will Smith.” He just needs to figure out how Will Smith survives in modern Hollywood. Suicide Squad is a good step forward, as is the long-awaited Bad Boys sequel. But Smith needs to be savvier about the films he chooses. He needs to understand that he can sell charisma, but not movie tickets. He can’t surf to the top of the box office on name recognition alone, but by choosing projects that synergize well with his fun, friendly persona. This fall’s Collateral Beauty might not be that. A fun action caper? A romantic comedy like Hitch? A guest spot on a remix? This is where Smith should calibrate his efforts. Smith has to remember that his biggest asset as a star isn’t his name, but his charisma.

Suicide Squad hits theaters this weekend.