Morena Baccarin Just Swapped Marvel For DC After Deadpool & Wolverine Sidelined Her Character

Morena Baccarin – who has played Deadpool‘s Vanessa since the first 2016 film – has appeared in a 2024 DC installment after Deadpool & Wolverine put the Marvel character more to the backburner. Vanessa Carlysle has a considerable history in the pages of Marvel’s comics, first appearing in 1992. That said, though the movie version of Vanessa is an endearing figure who’s crucial to the plot of the first Deadpool, she doesn’t share the extensive history of her comic counterpart.

While the movies have adapted certain key aspects about the character – most recently that of her divorce from Wade Wilson, as Deadpool & Wolverine reveals the pair’s romance had faded – the film version of Vanessa is without much of her comic lore, relegating her to a more background figure in later releases. However, Morena Baccarin’s role in a 2024 DC release essentially does the opposite, making her character more important over the course of the story, and raising hopes that upcoming DC projects could feature a return from the talented actor, be that in the DC Universe schedule or outside of it.

Morena Baccarin Appears In 2024’s Batman Unburied: Fallen City

Morena Baccarin plays a character initially known as just “Allie” in Batman Unburied: Fallen City, which released in November 2024. Fallen City starts off with the supposed death of Harvey Dent following he and Bruce Wayne working on plans to reform the abandoned Gotham orphanage into something that could genuinely help the city’s civilians – meaning his disappearance and suicide note immediately flag to Batman that something is afoot.

Allie has a key role from the offset as Dent’s romantic partner. Naturally, Allie also appears to be troubled by Harvey’s disappearance, and in the early parts of the show, works alongside Bruce in some of his detective work trying to uncover the mystery of what happened to Harvey, and who tried to kill him and Bruce at the very start of the series. While Morena Baccarin plays this part of the role well – and with some aspects that are similar to her role as Deadpool’s Vanessa – Allie gets even more interesting after her real identity is discovered.

Batman Unburied: Fallen City’s Villain Twist Gave Morena Baccarin The Kind Of Role She Dreamed Of For Marvel

In a November 2024 interview with The Playlist after Deadpool & Wolverine, Morena Baccarin discussed the potential for Vanessa’s role to evolve going forward, specifically referencing the Marvel character becoming Copycat – a mutant with the ability to copy others’ powers, which sees her be both hero and villain at points in her comic history. While the chances of Vanessa becoming Copycat in the MCU right now are unclear – as there has been no reference to this version of character starting to gain mutant powers despite three films featuring her – DC has made a version of these hopes a reality.

Batman Unburied: Fallen City episode 6 closes with Allie revealing that her “true name” is Talia Al Ghul – daughter of Batman villain Ra’s Al Ghul, and a character with an extensive and complicated history with the Dark Knight in the comics. The twist makes the character have the kind of importance hoped for with Vanessa in the DC series, both in revealing she’s one of the antagonists of the story, and in setting up for her redemption, as she eventually kills her father and then sacrifices herself in order to protect Gotham’s citizens from his city-destroying plans.

Batman Unburied: Fallen City Isn’t The First DC Release Morena Baccarin Has Appeared In

While Batman Unburied: Fallen City is a notable part of Morena Baccarin’s acting history due to its proximity to Deadpool & Wolverine, it’s worth noting that this isn’t the first DC release that the actor has played a part of. It isn’t even Baccarin’s first time playing Talia Al Ghul, as the 2016 animated DC movie Batman: Bad Blood also saw her voice the character the same year she appeared in Deadpool, providing experience in the role that’s sure to have come in handy for Batman Unburied.

Years prior to Deadpool 3 and Fallen City, Baccarin appeared in Gotham as Leslie Thompkins, adapting the long-time ally of Batman in the comics into the live-action show, wherein she’s a key character. As is the case with most of the cast of Gotham – especially those most directly involved in the dealings of the city’s underworld – Leslie’s role takes a wild trajectory over the course of its story, which sees her serve as both protagonist and antagonist as it unfolds.

However, even this isn’t Baccarin’s first role in DC’s assorted projects. Prior to this role, Morena Baccarin had already been in a range of other animated DCreleases, appearing as Cheetah in an episode of Batman: The Brave and The Bold in 2011, and Black Canary throughout Justice League Unlimited between 2005-2006. This selection of superhero roles suggests promising things for the future, as – whether in Deadpool or not – it seems as though Morena Baccarin is likely to return to the genre again down the line.

Morena Baccarin’s Superhero Acting History Makes Her A Perfect DC Universe Casting Choice

Having appeared in DC and Marvel’s superhero releases a considerable number of times over the years, it’s clear that Morena Baccarin has a talent for roles within the genre, and an interest in appearing in it, both of which logistically place her in good standing to appear in the DCU. A number of actors with prior roles in DC have already been confirmed to appear in the franchise, including actors like Viola Davis and John Cena who are reprising their DCEU roles, and names like Alan Tudyk, who is still currently also Harley Quinn’s Clayface.

As such, it seems Baccarin’s DC history may well only make the prospect of her appearing in the DCU more viable in some ways, as the actor has proved herself in a range of roles. Similarly, with it having been stated that the intention is for the same actors to play their DC Universe characters in both live-action and animated releases, Morena Baccarin having done both – and shown talent for voice-only roles further in Batman Unburied: Fallen City – proves there are clear benefits to casting her in the franchise.

With Morena Baccarin having been a hero, villain, and everything in between in her time in the superhero sphere, it stands to reason she’d be an ideal casting for a range of roles. Since this history gives her experience with both smaller one-off appearances and more extensive roles in long-running series like Gotham, a big or smaller character could both be perfect for her range, should both parties wish to add her to the DC Universe’s exciting and ever-expanding cast roster.

Upcoming DC Movie Releases