The DCEU Actors Continuing Into the New DC Universe

The multiverse can be a very confusing place. As DC winds down its “DC Extended Universe” and prepares to transition into the new “DC Universe” (I suppose the “DC Distended Universe” does not have quite the same ring), some actors associated with DC films and shows are keeping their jobs, while others are going to lose theirs.

Henry Cavill, for example, is out — he will be replaced by David Corenswet as the star of DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy. But it’s not so simple as replacing everybody from that early DCEU. Some projects will feature returning actors — but perhaps not even the exact same versions of those characters as before. Gunn himself recently answered some fan questions about this on Threads, and gave some clarifying responses.

“Some actors will be playing characters they’ve played in other stories & some plot points might be consistent with plot points from the dozens of films, shows & animated projects that have come from DC in the past. But nothing is canon until [Creature Commandos] and Legacy,” Gunn wrote.

Warner Bros.

As for specific actors you can expect to see moving forward, Gunn wrote “Xolo Maridueña will continue playing Blue Beetle in the DCU, as Viola Davis will Amanda Waller, and John Cena will Peacemaker.” Davis is one of the more tenured members of the DCEU, having appeared in two Suicide Squad films, the Peacemaker TV series, and Black Adam. She is set to get her own Waller TV series on Max in the new DCU.

Cena appeared in Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker and will return for a second season of the series in the future. Maridueña just debuted as Blue Beetle in one of the final DCEU films; the movie opened in mid-August and grossed $125 million worldwide in theaters.

That leaves out a lot of stars who could theoretically appear in the DCU, and perhaps still may, but were not explicitly mentioned by Gunn. (Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is the most obvious one that leaps to mind.) But it might be a little confusing to have the same actor appearing in multiple universes playing slightly different versions of the same character, opposite actors who are replacing established DC heroes. If and when Davis’ Waller talks to Corenswet’s Superman, for example, that’s gonna be a little weird.

The final DCEU movie, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, premieres in theaters on December 20.