David Dastmalchian Says He Hasn't Spoken With James Gunn About Returning to the DCU
Dastmalchian played fan-favorite Polka-Dot Man in 2021's The Suicide Squad.
David Dastmalchian has developed a unique reputation in the world of comic book adaptations, appearing in everything from The Dark Knight to The Flash television show to the Ant-Man films. For a number of DC fans, Dastmalchian's most-beloved role is Abner Krill / Polka-Dot Man, the infamous villain who became a scene-stealing part of James Gunn's 2021 film The Suicide Squad. With Gunn now co-running DC Studios, there has naturally been the question of whether or not Dastmalchian will factor into the new DC Universe in some capacity — and now, we have a bit of an answer. While speaking to ComicBook about the upcoming Image Comics series Knights Vs. Samurai, Dastmalchian addressed the possibility of being a part of the DCU, either through reprising his Polka-Dot Man role or taking on a new part entirely.
"I have not had any conversations with James about coming back," Dastmalchian said in our interview, which you can check out above. "We so rarely get to connect. He's the busiest person. He's busier than even Todd McFarlane. He's the busiest person I know in storytelling, so when we do connect, it's mostly just talking about personal, life stuff. But that being said, getting to become Abner Krill was one of the great greatest roles of my career. I don't know how he would exist in the post events. But maybe some kind of, maybe, 'How is Polka-Dot Man born?' That's a fun story. I don't know. But no, I would love to find my way back onto a James Gunn set. I don't know how it will happen or where, but working with him was one of the most incredible experiences of my acting career. For sure."
What Is on the DC Universe Slate?
The initial DC Studios slate will include 2025's Superman, 2026's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and currently-undated movies The Brave and the Bold, Swamp Thing, and The Authority. It will also include the HBO Max television shows Waller, Booster Gold, Lanterns, Paradise Lost, and an animated Creature Commandos series. Reports have indicated that a live-action Teen Titans movie and an animated Jurassic League movie are in the works at DC Studios, although neither have been publicly confirmed.
"A lot of people think it's going to be Marvel 2.0, and definitely I learned a lot of stuff at Marvel. I think that we have a lot of differences," Gunn explained in 2023. "We are telling a big, huge, central story that is like Marvel, except for, I think that we're a lot more planned out than Marvel from the beginning because we've gotten a group of writers together to work that story out completely. But we're also creating a universe that is like Star Wars, where there's different times, different places, different things, or Game of Thrones, where characters are a little bit more morally complex."
Knights vs. Samurai #1 will be released wherever comics are sold on September 25th.
