DC Studios head James Gunn has teased that he may cast some Marvel Cinematic Universe stars in upcoming DC Universe projects.
In an interview with Empire about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Gunn stated that he will probably work with the cast of the upcoming MCU film again, with the writer/director hinting that he might cast them in his revamped DCU. "This cast are like my family," he said about the Guardians of the Galaxy ensemble. "I cannot tell you how close I am to Chris Pratt and Pom [Klementieff] and Dave [Bautista] and Zoe [Saldaña] and Karen [Gillan]. But I also know I will work again with all those people individually again." He added, laughing, "Probably at my other job."
Gunn previously hinted that he would be bringing his Guardians of the Galaxy cast to the DCU in a December 2022 Twitter exchange with a fan. After Gunn shared an image of Alex Ross's iconic Kingdom Come art, Klementieff responded, "Exciting!," to the post, which led to a fan wishfully stating, "Hope you're a part of the plan Pom." Gunn then chimed in, writing, "Pom's always a part of our plans!" Although Klementieff has been acting since 2007, she didn't receive worldwide recognition until she was cast as Mantis by Gunn for 2017's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The upcoming third Guardians film will mark her sixth time playing the fan-favorite character.
An Eternals Star Wants to Join Gunn's DCU
Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani, who plays Kingo in the MCU film, has also expressed interest in joining the DCU. The actor recently explained that he wants to bring the obscure DC superhero Ambush Bug to Gunn's shared universe, stating, "I want to do an Ambush Bug movie. He's like this news reporter guy. He's weird." He also revealed that the main reason he wants to do an Ambush Bug film is "because there's no pressure on it, you know? If I do Superman, everybody's got a different idea of Superman and if it doesn't match up, they're upset. Ambush Bug, nobody cares about."
So far, Gunn has not announced any casting for the retooled DCU, which is rumored to be a soft reboot of the previously titled DC Extended Universe. However, following Henry Cavill's departure as Superman, Gunn revealed that not every role in the DCU will be recast and that some actors will continue to play their respective superheroes in future films.
Gunn is currently hard at work penning an untitled Superman film and scripts for an unannounced DCU series. The DC Studios head is also expected to partially reveal the first slate of DCU projects by the end of January. While it is currently unknown what the upcoming slate might look like, Gunn has previously teased that projects starring the Green Lantern Corps, Lobo and Green Arrow are in the works.
Source: Empire