While his work on his reboot version of DC’s cinematic universe as its co-CEO is yet to be seen, James Gunn has displayed his charming directing flair in quite a few other projects that were nothing short of lovable.
Besides the fan-favorite The Suicide Squad from the DC Universe being one of them, he is also credited with helming the MCU masterpiece, Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.
That being said, while the trilogy was pretty much perfect, some fans might still hold a grudge against Gunn for a decision he took for Michael Rosenbaum, i.e. the actor who played Lex Luthor in the television series.
This was because the filmmaker decided to sideline Rosenbaum’s character in the trilogy for the MCU, i.e., Martinex, in a rather humiliating way.
James Gunn’s GOTG Trilogy Brutally Sidelined Michael Rosenbaum’s Character
Although Michael Rosenbaum has donned multiple other star-studded roles, one of his most iconic and best-known ones is that of Lex Luthor in the superhit fan-favorite DC series from 2001, Smallville. Ever since then, fans have been deeply in love with the actor.
This is why they won’t find it all too pleasing to know that his character was humiliatingly sidelined in one of Gunn’s projects.
This goes down to the GOTG trilogy, in which Rosenbaum played the iconic character of Martinex, who is a member of Sylvester Stallone‘s Starhawk aka Stakar Ogord’s faction of Ravagers, in Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 of the film series.
But his role was incredibly minor, with an even meager screen time, as fans must have noticed.
Surprisingly enough, this was not because the Impastor actor didn’t have much for his character in the script, but rather because he did. As he shared during a panel at the recently held Nashville Comicon (via ComicBook.com):
I mean, the role was supposed to be a lot bigger. They cut a lot out.
Continuing, he even explained just what fans would have seen had he not been brutally sidelined, saying:
Well, you were supposed to see, it was written in the script to see Martinex’s powers, which were really cool.
Needless to say, his role in the films indeed wasn’t anything close to enough — considering how he was mostly seen following Starhawk around and stuff.
According to Rosenbaum, it was cut down because the script was already overflowing with details they needed to include, and making way for his character’s detailed arc, too — even though slightly — wouldn’t have been possible.
As he said:
But they had so much to talk about in the script that they ended up cutting it out in the end. And there was some other stuff.
Needless to say, had James Gunn included all of this for Rosenbaum’s character arc in live-action, it would have been a treat for fans — not only for the ones from the Marvel Cinematic Universe but even those fans who had loved his performances ever since his DC role.
However, Michael Rosenbaum Has No Hard Feelings About This
Even though he was allowed an incredibly minor role in the fan-favorite superhero trilogy (even more minor as compared to his role in the DC TV series), the Sorority Boys actor has no hard feelings or anything even close to it about the saga or working on it.
In fact, if anything, he claims that he is grateful for all the fun he got to have with his friends and co-stars while it lasted.
As per what he admitted during the same panel:
But it was fun. For me, it’s like I’m working with my friends, I get paid, I’m in a big Marvel movie, life could suck worse. You know what I mean? I’m very grateful.
Now that, undoubtedly enough, is a sign of a true and genuine star — something that Rosenbaum is to the point where no one else could outdo him.
You can stream Smallville on Hulu and the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy on Disney+.
