A few months back I did an article on what I would do if I was Marvel. Sort of a predictions, and sort of what I thought they needed to do. Option number one was to bring back the OG Avengers, specifically Robert Downey Jr. And I was kind of right, because last night it was officially announced that RDJ was rejoining the MCU. Like the MCU there are probably hundreds of roles that are being cast right now or at least discussed, but I’m just going to take a look at some of the bigger, more pivotal roles to the DC universe. So without further ado, here is my choice for who should be playing these roles whenever James Gunn picks up the phone to call me.
Superman- Since this one is already cast, it is a pretty easy, but at least I can then say one name from this article was correct. David Corensweet was cast as the man of steel last year and is about to officially wrap filming soon on the movie, ahead of next years summer release. Superman himself is probably a big enough IP to sell the character, and I doubt Corensweet is costing them an arm and a leg on his deal. So on that sense I do get it, he also looks like what you would just imagine as Superman if someone asked you to draw it. But I don’t know, DC and WBD is at a crossroads as a company and you need your first thing out of the gate to be a big time hit. So if you cast someone who is a bigger name, then maybe it has a better chance to start your cinematic universe off with a bang. But in James Gunn I will trust on this, and we will see in a little under a year.
Supergirl- Another character that has already been cast, last one I swear. Milly Alco*ck was cast as the titular Supergirl and is believed to appear in David Corensweet’s Superman movie, before her own feature comes out in 2026. I didn’t watch House of the Dragon so I haven’t ever seen her in anything. This one is a little tougher to try and pick out an established star, just because I don’t see the likes of someone like Florence Pugh, Sydney Sweeney, or Anya Taylor-Joy taking on the role. And I guess they could’ve went with someone a little more established like Madelyn Cline, but Alco*ck already has a lot of believers in the WBD offices thanks to House of the Dragon. Plus given that we will be able to see her appear in Superman prior to her own film, it will give the audience a chance to get to know the character and not go into her film blind. So once again, I will trust in James Gunn and the braintrust at DC on this one.
Green Lantern- Let’s start out with a two for one on the first official what would I do. As it looks like a Green Lantern’s tv show could be coming down the pipeline very soon, and it will feature two leads in Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Just as a heads up, this is what I would do but like within the realm of possibility. If a genie was granting wishes, I’d just say cast Tom Cruise and Daniel Kaluuya in the roles, but that just isn’t going to happen. In my head I imagine that one will be a little older, and the other in their young to mid 30’s. So for the older I will take John Stewart and cast Sterling K. Brown as that lantern. Brown is a pretty established actor on both the small and big screen, and I’m just imagining Gunn playing this character off as a Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon type and I think Brown could nail it. For the younger Jordan, I would go and try and get someone like Taron Egerton. Like Brown, able to bring instant credibility to your show. One of the most bonafide young stars working today, and not too big to where he would be against doing an HBO show. He also like Brown, can really portray the serious, while also having the body of work to show he can fit inside James Gunn’s chaotic sense of humor.
Wonder Woman- Unsure of when and how Wonder Woman will make her first appearance, but since she is one of DC’s biggest and most important characters, smart money would be on sooner rather than later. The ideal casting is to get someone whose stock is on the rise, while also not being too high that a significant portion of your budget goes to their salary. I’m not sure there is person on this list that better fits that description than Adria Arjona as Wonder Woman. After Hit Man earlier this summer, Arjona finally found a movie that matched her talents as an actress and was a good movie. So it would just a major misstep from DC to not cast someone like her in favor of a bigger name, but not as good of an actress. At least find some role that lets her redeem her comic book movie career after the disaster that was Morbius.
Batman- The last of the major heroes that DC announced they have immediate plans for. Save for maybe Spider-Man maybe the biggest and most popular hero in the pop culture zeitgeist. Robert Pattinson is currently playing The Dark Knight, but let’s assume that he just stays separate and that James Gunn wants James Gunn’s pick for Batman. If he goes younger, I think you gotta make the call to someone like Austin Butler, who WBD has a lot of stock in after casting him and launching him into the mainstream in Elvis. Then after that casting him in Dune as a major supporting character, maybe now it is time for him to get the lead in a 200 million blockbuster for DC and WBD. If they skew it a little bit older, then why not just give it to the guy who has been past over a few times, and seems to really want to play the character in Jake Gyllenhaal. Just seems like an ideal fit and could play it either dark and brooding if Gunn likes the more Nolan approach, or a little more out there in left field if he makes it more like Tim Burton’s Batman.
As I said above, these are just some of the characters that seem like they are in the immediate plans for DC/WBD. Other characters who I just don’t know enough about or think are as important to talk about like Swamp Thing, The Authority, and Booster Gold also appear on the horizon. Seems like stuff you can keep the budget down on and maybe not have potential to hit a billion at the box office, but still to make a quality movie that results in a nice double. All I know is after the RDJ coming back announcement, DC needs to have something up their sleeve to get the conversation back on them. THANK YOU for reading to this point, and let me know any actor, actress, or just person in general you would like to see working on the DC projects.
