When DC Studios announced its DCU slate, James Gunn and Peter Safran were asked about the possibility of Jason Momoa playing Aquaman and Lobo.
Both seemingly made it clear that no actor would play two characters in the new DCU. However, Gunn later clarified his position on social media when he explained that the same person could have multiple voice roles, but when it came to live-action, the rule was "generally no."
On Friday, the news broke that James' brother, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad star Sean Gunn, had been cast as the DCU's Maxwell Lord. Pedro Pascal played the villain in Wonder Woman 1984, though this interpretation is expected to be more morally ambiguous rather than a straightforward bad guy.
Some quickly said Sean's casting was an example of Hollywood nepotism, particularly as he's already been eyed to play Weasel and G.I. Robot in Max's Creature Commandos animated series.
In a now-deleted exchange with a fan, the Superman: Legacy director stated, "I said, very clearly, actors will generally only be playing one character on screen, and said, in the same response, that for voice actors it's not the same. Sean, Alan Tudyk, Maria Bakalova, Steve Agee, etc, all play multiple roles in Creature Commandos. That doesn't mean they won't play different characters onscreen."
"So, what's the need you have (and a handful of others) to [so] desperately need to believe I'm lying that you seem to purposefully ignore certain parts of what I said?"
Gunn's words have indeed been taken out of context and he was clear in the past about actors getting to play more than one character in animation before potentially appearing on screen as them or someone else. Still, with the Creature Commandos expected to appear in live-action, that would give Sean more than one on-screen role. Then again, it's not as if anyone is going to mistake G.I. Robot for Maxwell Lord!
The main gripe ultimately seems to be that Gunn is giving people who he's close with roles in the DCU, but not the vast majority of actors from the DC Extended Universe (Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, and Ben Affleck, for example). However, that's the DC Studios co-CEO's prerogative, and Gunn appears to be learning what it's like dealing with a very vocal, and incredibly passionate, fanbase.
The filmmaker must have been aware of what it would look like when the actors he worked with on The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker got to reprise their respective roles in place of certain DCEU fan favourites, but he no doubt hopes it will all blow over by the time the DCU is launched with Superman: Legacy in 2025.