Superman
James Gunn is now rapid-firing out announcements about his Superman Legacy cast, which has expanded far beyond the Superman-Lois-Lex trilogy, and into a bunch of other DC characters no one had any idea would be a part of the project. The last week has brought new blood, so it’s time for an updated list of cast members, outside of just the main heroes.
Superman – David Corenswet, as seen in Pearl, We Own This City, The Politician
TORONTO, ONTARIO - SEPTEMBER 12: David Corenswet attends the "Pearl" Premiere during the 2022 ... [+]
Lois Lane – Rachel Brosnahan, as seen in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, House of Cards
VENICE, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 06: Rachel Brosnahan attends the "Dead For A Dollar" red carpet at the ... [+]
Guy Gardner (Green Lantern) – Nathan Fillion, as seen in Firefly, The Rookie
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 08: Nathan Fillion attends ABC Television's Winter Press Tour 2020 at ... [+]
Hawkgirl – Isabela Merced, as seen in Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Father of the Bride
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 17: Isabela Merced attends ELLE's 29th Annual Women in Hollywood ... [+]
Mr. Terrific – Edi Gathegi, as seen in For All Mankind, The Blacklist, X-Men: First Class
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 30: Edi Gathegi attends the GEANCO Foundation Gala at 1 Hotel ... [+]
Metamorpho – Anthony Carrigan, as seen in Barry, Gotham
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 16: Anthony Carrigan attends HBO's "Barry" Season 4 Premiere at ... [+]
Lex Luthor – Still uncast, rumors include both Bill and Alexander Skarsgard, Nicholas Hoult
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 20: Alexander Skarsgård attends HBO's "Succession" Season 4 Premiere at ... [+]
Gunn has previously confirmed that this is not a Superman origin story like most of the movies have been. The presence of all these other characters indicate that this is an established superhero world already with at least some of the Justice League already assembled.
Previous tweets from Gunn have hinted at much of this. He previously confirmed the Green Lantern Corps would be a significant part of the new DCU, and here’s Guy Gardner already in the first movie. He previously tweeted out a picture of Mr. Terrific months ago.
Gunn’s plans seem to vary drastically from the DCEU, which was very much about establishing the “core” heroes in a group together, namely Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, with other main JLA members added soon after, The Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman. But in the first movie here, we’re getting a green Lantern (and not even the “main” one), Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific and Metamorpho. If you told me Mr. Terrific was going to be in Superman Legacy, the first DCU movie, I would not have believed you.
The Suicide Squad
Of course James Gunn is all about obscure characters. Guardians of the Galaxy was a pretty obscure part of the Marvel universe until Gunn’s trilogy made them almost as mainstream as the Avengers themselves. His take on Suicide Squad drew on some of the most random DC characters in existence like Peacemaker, Polka Dot Man and Ratcatcher. So yes, it does stand to reason that he’ll feature more obscure DC characters in his own projects. He’s also tweeted photos of characters like Jonah Hex and Gorilla Grodd, so we’ll see what may become of that.
It’s going to be an interesting time for DC, but with the box office failures recently, it’s clear something had to drastically change.
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