James Gunn has been slowly building his vision of the DCU and he has announced several actors who have been cast in Superman: Legacy in recent days and months. While most of the casting choices have been lapped up by fans, one in particular led to fans expressing some anger and frustration.
It was recently announced that Gunn’s brother Sean Gunn has been cast as Maxwell Lord in his DCU. This casting choice proved to be highly divisive and now fans of Gunn’s work have started defending against accusations of nepotism in addition to elitist treatment of friends and family.
The Problem With Defensive Fans Regarding Sean Gunn’s Maxwell Lord Casting
James Gunn’s work on the Guardians of the Galaxy films and his DC projects have all been well-received by fans and critics. However, in recent times, his casting choices and the repetitive nature of people who appear in a Gunn film have been under scrutiny and received significant backlash. This has now intensified with the latest casting of Superman: Legacy.
Since it was announced that Sean Gunn will be playing Maxwell Lord in Gunn’s DCU, the fandom has been sharply divided into two factions. On X, fans of Gunn’s works have been defending Gunn’s decision and fighting against any accusations of nepotism and preferential treatment of his friends and family, However, there is a real problem that these fans have failed to understand.
The criticism around the casting is not that Gunn isn’t a good actor and won’t be able to play the role. It is more about repetitiveness and lack of variety. We have seen him in every film of the director and actors like Nathan Fillion and his wife Jennifer Holland have also been frequently cast in his films. While they are talented in their way, it becomes lazy and predictable after a point.
It’s also that many expected Gunn to go with fresh and interesting casting choices that would subvert expectations and bring a new dynamic to him as the new head of DC. However, by casting and bringing back his so-called friends and family again, there is no excitement about their casting at all. While no one is denying their talent, the anger and frustration form many people come from a reasonable place.
James Gunn is Almost Finished Designing The Superman Suit For His Film
James Gunn is hard at work on the pre-production process of his upcoming DC flick Superman: Legacy. The director has been sharing constant updates about the progress of the film and he recently talked about Superman’s suit and the film’s score.
When a fan asked about the status of the suit and whether it would be inspired by the classic suit or an upgraded one, Gunn revealed that he is almost finished designing the suit (incorporating both old and new) and is still going back and forth on certain elements. He also revealed the progress of the film’s score. He said (via CBM),
“The costume is mostly done but we’re still going back and forth on some elements. A lot of the score – maybe even most of the major themes – have already been written.”
It remains to be seen how Gunn’s unique take on the mythology of Superman differs from the previous incarnations of the character. The film is scheduled to hit theaters on July 11, 2025.
