James Gunn is not one to abandon his friends, and he’s wasting no time in bringing his closest collaborators over to DC with him now that he’s got the keys to the kingdom.
Just look at how Nathan Fillion is set to play Green Lantern Guy Gardner in Superman: Legacy, with his brother Sean Gunn on call as Maxwell Lord. Sure enough, the DC Studios co-CEO has long been open about the fact he’s hoping to bring the full Guardians of the Galaxy cast into the DCU eventually. And it’s possible the next one to emerge through the multiversal portal from Marvel will be Gamora herself, Zoe Saldaña.
The Avengers: Endgame actress got fans everywhere excited when she admitted to ComicBook.com that she would be ecstatic to join DC. “I love the superhero universe of any sort,” she gushed. “I have sons that are obsessed with comic books right now, and superheroes, so for me to be a part of projects that they will get to watch for the next 10, 15 years of their whole lives, it’s a dream for me. If it never gets to happen, or if it happens with other filmmakers, and not James Gunn, or if it happens again with James Gunn, I would be so grateful.”
Gunn was then presented with Saldaña’s comments on Threads and asked if he would like to work with her again and if he already has roles for her in mind. “Ofc and ofc,” he replied. “I love Zoe.”
Well, if Gunn already has some characters he’s pegged as potentially perfect for his Gamora it’s surely only a matter of time before Saldaña makes her DCU debut. If Gunn’s having some trouble deciding on her definitive DC role, though, there’s one character the Star Trek star would be well-suited for. And it’s a hero Gunn himself previously erased from the SnyderVerse.
Who should Zoe Saldaña play in the DCEU? The answer is the Question…
With basically an entire universe to be cast in the newborn DCU and with Saldaña being such a versatile performer, there are so many characters that could have her name on them. It’s easy to imagine the actress being a fantastic Catwoman in The Brave and the Bold, for example, or a great Jessica Cruz in the Lanterns TV series. Saldaña may even wish to try her hand at a supervillain role after a decade as a superhero, in which case how about Poison Ivy or Queen Bee, as seen in Young Justice?
The absolute best DC role for Saldaña, however? Ironically, it’s a character that Gunn himself threw to the side in his first project for Marvel’s Distinguished Competition. Let’s have Zoe Saldaña return to the comic book movie world as Renee Montoya, preferably with her portrayal depicting her taking on the mantle of the Question.
Montoya has already appeared in film, of course, as Rosie Perez played her in 2020’s Birds of Prey. However, despite Renee and the other Birds forming a partnership with Harley Quinn throughout that movie, Gunn made no attempt to reference the characters in 2021’s The Suicide Squad. After BoP failed to ignite the box office, this effectively allowed DC to bury the characters, which is why little headway was being made on a sequel even before the old DCEU dissolved to make way for the Gunn-verse.
Gunn can belatedly do right by the character with a Saldaña casting, then. Montoya is a fascinating character who goes from a Gotham cop, an instrument of the system, to a vigilante whose whole thing is rebelling and questioning the authorities. It’s a transformative arc and a tough-as-nails heroine, not to mention one of DC’s most popular sapphic characters, and would surely be a gift of a part for the actress. The bonus is that Renee is of Dominican heritage in the comics, while Saldaña is Dominican/Puerto-Rican.
So, that’s settled; Zoe Saldaña should be the DCU’s Renee Montoya. Now the Question remains… where should she debut? James Gunn, I’ll leave that up to you.
