James Gunn Is Ready To Poach His Guardians Of The Galaxy Cast For The DCU
James Gunn has caused a flurry of casting chaos ever since he stepped in as co-CEO of DC Studios, alongside Peter Safran. In December, they sacked Henry Cavill as Superman, even after Cavill had announced his return to the role. Then Gunn and Safran axed "Wonder Woman 3" and, effectively, director Patty Jenkins, thus leaving Gal Gadot's future in the DC Universe uncertain. Finally, Gunn confirmed that there would be no more Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Black Adam in the immediate future of the DC Universe. Of course, "The Flash" is still slated to premiere this June — and "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" will premiere next fall — but even Jason Momoa isn't sure if he'll return as Aquaman after that.
Now, it's clear that Gunn and Safra are giving the former Snyderverse a complete makeover — so much so that it may start to look a bit like the MCU. In a recent interview with Empire, Gunn even suggested that he might hire his former "Guardians of the Galaxy" cast for future DC projects.
Gunn treats the Guardians cast like his own family
In the Empire interview, Gunn discussed the final stages of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" post-production and admitted that he doesn't want to stop working with the cast. "This cast are like my family," he said. "I cannot tell you how close I am to Chris Pratt and Pom [Klementieff] and Dave [Bautista] and Zoe [Saldana] and Karen [Gillan]. But I also know I will work again with all those people individually again." Then, he added, "Probably at my other job."
It's quite the tease, one that would imply a major shake-up in both the MCU and DC universes. Of course, it's just a glib aside for the time being, but the throwaway statement will no doubt inspire a tidal wave of imaginative fan casting. On the other hand, the quote does prove without a doubt that Gunn does not consider his "Guardians" cast to be unprofessional, as Gunn has already stated in the past that he keeps a list of actors that he'll never work with again. Some of those unnamed actors are "a**holes"; others are merely unprofessional. But none of them, apparently, include Chris Pratt.