Laurence Fishburne Doesn’t Think He’ll Be In The DCEU Again

Laurence Fishburne suspects his days berating Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent as The Daily Planet’s no-nonsense editor Perry White in the DCEU are behind him. The actor first played the role in Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot Man of Steel and later returned for the director’s followup Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, but was conspicuously absent during last year’s Justice League (even in the scenes with Amy Adams’ Lois Lane at the Planet’s headquarters).

As with much of the DC movie universe, it’s not clear yet what the future holds for either Fishburne’s Perry White or Cavill as Superman. Rumors continue to circulate that DC and Warner Bros. will formally announce Man of Steel 2 (e.g. a new Superman solo film) any day now, and it stands to reason that both actors would come back for the sequel, should WB give it the go-ahead.

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Fortunately, Fishburne has a new comic book movie gig to keep him preoccupied in the meantime. The actor has officially joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to his role as Dr. Bill Foster in Ant-Man and The Wasp, and expects to play the scientist again in a future MCU film. However, as he told Den of Geek during an interview to promote the Ant-Man sequel, he thinks his days playing in the DCEU sandbox are probably over:

I don’t think I’m still on call. I was unfortunately unable to go do some work on what turned out to be the Justice League movie. I don’t know that I need to go back or if they’ll have me back or not, but I was grateful to have been a part of it. I loved working with Zack (Snyder), I think he makes an incredible superhero movie. I’m just excited to be a part of this (the MCU) now.

As for Man of Steel 2, Fishburne admitted that he wishes “they had started 20 years ago. But that’s all right, they’re where they are.” There’s been so much smoke around the next Superman film this past year that it seems like there must be some fire behind it all. Whether that means a Man of Steel 2 announcement is imminent (as is rumored) or that plans are in motion for Cavill to play Superman again, it would be nice to have Fishburne as Perry White back too and chewing Clark out for not covering the fluff piece he assigned him, once more. While he clearly doubts this will happen, it sounds like Fishburne is more than willing to reprise his role, just as soon as WB gives the official green light.

Even with the DCEU possibly in his rearview, Fishburne has several other projects to keep him preoccupied for the foreseeable future. He confirmed to Den of Geek that he recently finished shooting his scenes as the Bowery King for John Wick 3: Parabellum and is now getting to work on Clint Eastwood’s true crime story drama The Mule (reuniting the duo for the first time since Mystic River). Fishburne is also actively developing a Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur cartoon series with Marvel TV and Disney.

MORE: WB Should Announce the New DCEU Slate at Comic-Con

Sure: Den of Geek