The DC Extended Universe and Fast & Furious franchise share many of the same actors. Over the last few years, the DCEU and Fast & Furious franchises have become two of Hollywood’s biggest ongoing series. As a result, each of the film franchises continues to attract high-profile talent for each installment. This is especially true when it comes to those who will be in front of the camera, as the various upcoming Fast & Furious movies and DCEU projects offer plenty of opportunities for A-list actors to join both franchises. Over the years, it’s created quite a mini shared universe of actors between them.
Universal’s Fast & Furious franchise began in 2001 as a low-budget Point Break homage starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel. It has since grown into a worldwide action franchise, entertaining audiences with unbelievable action sequences and increasingly huge stakes. 2021’s F9 was the latest entry in the main franchise and tenth movie overall with 2019’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw spinoff. There are multiple movies in development, too, as the main franchise races toward its conclusion with Fast & Furious 11, which is expected to wrap up Dominic Toretto’s story.
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As for the DCEU, Warner Bros.’ shared universe launched in 2013 and is only recently finding its footing after moving past Zack Snyder’s vision, which is a controversial decision itself. However, there is a full slate of movies through 2023 that has many excited for the DCEU’s future. It includes bringing back established stars and introducing some new ones who will be important for what comes next. Thanks to the history and future of the DCEU and Fast & Furious franchises and their respective popularity, they share a few notable cast members. Here’s every DCEU actor who also appears in the Fast & Furious movies.
Gal Gadot
Gal Gadot is one of the most prominent actors the DCEU and Fast & Furious movie share. She first appeared in the Fast & Furious franchise before making the jump to the DCEU. Gadot plays Gisele Yashar in Universal’s action franchise, where she made her debut in the fourth movie in 2009, her first film role. Gisele returned for Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6, where she unexpectedly died. Gadot did film a cameo for Furious 7, but it was left on the cutting room floor. Gisele became a fan-favorite character in her three appearances, which is the reason why many still hope Gal Gadot will be in another Fast & Furious movie before too long.
By the time Gisele’s story ended, it didn’t take long for Gadot to land her next major Hollywood role and join the DCEU as Wonder Woman. She made her debut as Diana Prince in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The Zack Snyder film introduced the Amazon warrior in a supporting role that made Gadot’s Wonder Woman a scene-stealer. She then proved her popularity the following year when Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman hit theaters and smashed expectations. Gadot then returned for Justice League and Wonder Woman 1984, and she was also featured more in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Warner Bros. has Wonder Woman 3 in development with Jenkins returning for a third time, and Gadot is also rumored to play Wonder Woman again in multiple other DCEU movies.
Idris Elba
Idris Elba is another actor to appear in both the DCEU and Fast & Furious franchises. His involvement in the franchises began when Elba was cast as Brixton in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. As the main villain of the franchise’s first spinoff movie, Elba’s super-soldier character was revealed to have cybernetic implants, drawing comparisons to Brixton being “Black Superman.” However, Hobbs & Shaw’s ending saw Idris Elba’s time in the Fast & Furious franchise seemingly end, as Brixton appeared to die after failing Eteon.
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After his brief Fast & Furious role, Elba joined the DCEU to participate in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. Despite initial rumors Idris Elba was taking over Will Smith’s role as Deadshot, he ultimately played DCEU’s Robert DuBois, a.k.a. the assassin Bloodsport, in the 2021 movie. Bloodsport became one of The Suicide Squad’s main characters as he led a second covert Task Force X team to shut down Project: Starfish. Since Bloodsport survived The Suicide Squad’s ending and high body count, there is a strong chance he’ll be in future DCEU projects.
John Cena
The DCEU and Fast & Furious franchise also share John Cena as one of their biggest stars after the past year. The former WWE star made his DCEU and Fast & Furious debuts in 2021 thanks to The Suicide Squad and F9. Thanks to their respective release dates, Cena appeared in F9 first as Jakob Toretto, the secret, estranged brother of Dom. Jakob was the villain of Fast & Furious 9 for almost the entirety of its runtime, but he eventually had a redemptive moment in the end. This should allow John Cena to return in Fast & Furious 10 and other future movies as Jakob Toretto.
On top of his Fast & Furious debut, August 2021 saw John Cena make his first appearance as Christopher Smith, a.k.a. Peacemaker, in The Suicide Squad. His peace-loving villain was such a favorite of James Gunn’s that he created an HBO Max spinoff show for him. The eight-episode Peacemaker debuted in January 2022 on HBO Max, putting Cena’s Peacemaker front and center while trying to grapple with his actions in The Suicide Squad. With the likelihood of Peacemaker season 2 happening, John Cena’s DCEU future also looks very bright.
Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is also soon to be a member of both the DCEU and Fast & Furious worlds. Johnson has already appeared in the Fast & Furious franchise multiple times as Luke Hobbs. He first appeared in Fast Five, where Hobbs was a villain for Dominic Toretto’s crew. Johnson’s return in Fast & Furious 6 saw him enlist the help of Toretto, and he became a full-on protagonist in the franchise by Furious 7. Hobbs took on another prominent role in The Fate of the Furious before getting his spinoff movie, Hobbs & Shaw. However, Dwayne Johnson won’t be in any more main installments of the franchise due to his feud with Vin Diesel. This leaves The Rock’s Fast & Furious future solely with Hobbs & Shaw 2 and other spinoffs.
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Johnson has also been circling a DCEU role for many years, even before he made his first Fast & Furious appearance as he’d been attached to play Black Adam since 2008 in Warner Bros.’ upcoming movie. The original plan was for Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam to be the villain of Shazam!, but it was decided he’d get a solo film instead. Black Adam is finally slated to hit theaters in July 2022 and introduce Johnson’s DCEU antihero. Once he does appear, it should be the beginning of multiple DCEU appearances for Black Adam.
Jason Momoa
Jason Momoa is the latest actor to line up roles in the DCEU and Fast & Furious franchise. As of this writing, he’s only appeared in the DCEU, but that’s set to change. Jason Momoa has played Aquaman in the shared universe following his cameo in Batman v Superman. His Arthur Curry returned for Justice League in 2017 but saw his popularity skyrocket the following year when his standalone movie, Aquaman, became the DCEU’s highest-grossing movie to date. Momoa was seen a bit more in Zack Snyder’s Justice League despite not filming any new scenes, and he’ll next be seen in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. It is expected he’ll keep playing Aquaman for multiple other DCEU movies.
The Fast & Furious franchise is also bringing Jason Momoa into the fold in the near future. It was recently reported that he’s set to be one of the villains of Fast & Furious 10. There are no other details on Jason Momoa’s Fast & Furious villain role, but it could be one that still gives him a chance to be involved in the franchise’s future. Whether or not Momoa has a future with the Fast & Furious franchise will be more clear after Fast & Furious 10’s release, though.
Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker also counts himself as being part of the DCEU and Fast & Furious franchise now. He had a small role in F9 as Buddy, an old family friend of Dominic Toretto. Rooker then appeared in The Suicide Squad to play Savant in James Gunn’s DCEU movie. He likely has no DCEU future save for potential flashbacks considering Savant’s clear death in The Suicide Squad, but Michael Rooker has said before that he’ll be in future Fast & Furious movies.
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