Michael Rooker might be the next actor to split his time between the Marvel and DC Cinematic Universes, as he is (according to The Wrap) reportedly in talks to play King Shark in ‘The Suicide Squad’. If he signs on, this will reunite him with his ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ director James Gunn. Gunn was reportedly hoping that another ‘Guardians’ star, Dave Bautista would appear in ‘The Suicide Squad’ as The Peacemaker, but it appears that didn’t work out. Instead, John Cena will take that role, while Bautista is filming ‘Army of the Dead’ with director Zack Snyder, for Netflix.
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Rooker, of course, played Yondu in the two ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ films. In addition to the ‘Guardians’ flicks, Rooker has had roles in ‘The Belko Experiment’ and ‘Brightburn’, which were both produced by Gunn.
Should he sign on, he will join David Dastmalchian as the Polka-Dot Man. Dastmalchian portrayed Kurt in the two ‘Ant-Man’ movies for Marvel. Other actors who have appeared in both the DC and Marvel Cinematic Universes include: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje who played Killer Croc in ‘Suicide Squad’ and had the small role of Algrim in ‘Thor: The Dark World’; Laurence Fishburn who appeared as Perry White for DC and Bill Foster in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’; Randall Park, from ‘Aquaman’, and ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’; Djimon Hounsou, who appears as the Wizard in ‘Shazam!’, and as Korath the Pursuer in the Marvel movies; and most recently, Zachary Levi who headlined ‘Shazam!’, previously played Fandral in ‘Thor: The Dark World’, and ‘Thor: Ragnarok’. That doesn’t include actors who have appeared in films that fall outside of the official “shared universe” films, such as the ‘X-Men’ franchise.
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Gunn wrote the screenplay for ‘The Suicide Squad’, which is said to be more of a reboot than a sequel, and will direct, with production expected to begin this fall. The cast also includes Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher, and Idris Elba in a currently unknown role, plus returning performers Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag.
King Shark is the humanoid shark son of a Hawaiian deity. He has appeared on ‘The Flash’ TV series, voiced by David Hayter. It isn’t clear whether Rooker would simply supply the film version’s voice or if he will provide a motion-capture performance s well.
Rooker will next be seen in Blumhouse’s ‘Fantasy Island’, and is currently shooting ‘Monster Problems‘, directed by Michael Matthews.
‘The Suicide Squad’ is expected to begin filming later this year to be released in theaters on August 6, 2021.
