Highlights
- James Gunn clarifies that only films from Creature Commandos and Superman: Legacy are canon in the DC Universe (DCU), causing confusion among fans.
- Xolo Maridueña, Viola Davis, and John Cena are confirmed to reprise their roles in the DCU reboot, while other actors' returns remain uncertain.
- The list of returning actors is not final, and negotiations may still be ongoing due to the actors' strike, delaying the official confirmation of their involvement.
James Gunn has had a busy two days on social media trying to clear up any confusion about his upcoming DC Universe (DCU) reboot plans. In his latest update, Gunn confirmed another DCEU actor will return to the DCU besides the three he already mentioned.
Yesterday, Gunn took to Threads to answer some questions that fans have about what films and characters are canon to the DC Universe, among other things. He confirmed that anything before Creature Commandos and Superman: Legacy was not canon to the DCU. Additionally, Gunn confirmed Xolo Maridueña will continue playing Blue Beetle, Viola Davis will return as Amanda Waller, and John Cena will stay on board as Peacemaker.
Later on Threads, Gunn was asked by a fan if Freddie Stroma would return as Vigilante. “Yes Freddie as Vigilante is still around,” Gunn replied. At the moment, Gunn hasn’t added anyone else to the list of actors returning, but most of the actors from Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad will seemingly return. However, based on Gunn's earlier comments, neither Peacemaker nor The Suicide Squad is canon. This will likely cause more confusion and outrage among fans against the soft DCU reboot.
It is also important to note that the list he mentioned yesterday is not final. With the addition of Stroma's Vigilante, there may be other returning actors returning that fans don’t know about yet. Two noticeably absent actors are Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot, who previously said she was returning to the Wonder Woman role, and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, who has been heavily rumored to return. At this point, Henry Cavill's Superman and Ben Affleck's Batman are the two most notable characters being replaced by Gunn.
Likely, Gunn doesn’t want to list every actor who is or isn't staying in the DCU. With the actors’ strike still ongoing, it's likely that some negotiations with actors still need to be finalized. If the latter is true, fans must wait until after the actors strike to find out which actors are returning. Hopefully, the strike should end soon now that the writers’ strike has concluded.
Although keeping track of which actors will return might be confusing, Gunn said it was okay to be confused about what counts as DCU canon because fans haven't seen any content from the shared universe yet. Soon the DC Universe will have its first projects released, and what is canon will be officially established.
Source: James Gunn/Threads