DCU – Maxima/Wonder Woman

• To start with, James Gunn actively shot down a story that Marisa Abela, Adria Arjona and Ella Purnell were all testing to play Maxima, an alien queen who comes to Earth to secure Superman as a mate, potentially arriving in Man of Tomorrow. Gunn said he’d never even met two of the actresses, and despite being friends with Arjona, the report wasn’t true. Gunn called Deadline’s reporting “shoddy and incorrect.”

• Those rumors have evolved, listing again, Adria Arjona as testing for Maxima, but also Eva De Dominici, Sydney Chandler and Grace Van Patten, removing Abela and Purnell from that list. Gunn has not dismissed this follow-up report from THR, but he doesn’t address every rumor.
• Then, however, there’s a report from insider Jeff Sneider that the Maxima testing may actually be a front for trying out potential Wonder Women, with Arjona, Gunn’s longtime friend, as the potential frontrunner, something both she and Gunn have denied in the past, but she never stops being included in these reports. The inclusion of the lesser-known, but very tall, very Wonder Woman-looking Eva De Dominici, seen at the top of this article, has certainly raised some eyebrows.

MCU – Rogue/Beast

• This one is more straightforward, and Marvel has no James Gunn-type figure actively confirming or denying rumors on social media. The most prominent one is that Marty Supreme/I Love LA actress Odessa A’zion is being considered to play Rogue in the upcoming MCU X-Men slate. The actress’ profile is rising quickly, and between the hair and her signature voice, many are lending credence to the rumor.

• There are also reports that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Peter Claffey is being looked at for the role of Beast — the 6’5” actor fits with the character’s physicality, though he would of course be furry and blue.
• Finally, as ever, we are trying to figure out if Sadie Sink is playing Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which would be the first new X-Man we see, but that has still not been confirmed, even after the film’s first trailer has been released.

Obviously, none of these are official announcements, and the reports come range from trade publication reporting for industry insiders. It’s unlikely they’ll all pan out, but if you want to know what’s being circulated at the moment, and where things could end up, there you go.

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