Sean Gunn played Kraglin in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, before going on to provide the voice of Weasel in The Suicide Squad and the Creature Commandos animated series. This week, the actor will make his live-action DCU debut as Maxwell Lord in his brother James' DCU Superman reboot.
While speaking to The Wrap at FanExpo Chicago last year, Gunn was asked about making the jump from the MCU to the DCU, and he feels that - because he's now a part of a very different shared DC universe under his brother and co DC Studios CEO Peter Safran - comparing his experience is like "apples and oranges."
“I came into the whole process of working at Marvel once the machine was kind of already up and running smoothly and doing well. DC, I’ve done Suicide Squad, but now they’re kind of overhauling it, and it’s new ever since my brother took over as head of the studio,” he explained. “It’s sort of been a new process for them. So it would be, it’s really kind of true, like trying to compare apples and oranges.”
Gunn was also asked about his take on Lord, and while he declined to go into too much detail, he did reveal that this version of the character "won't be based on any live-action portrayals fans have seen before. It’s all from written materials with things that we figure we’re looking at."
Spoilers follow.
Gunn did make a brief appearance as Lord in the trailer for Peacemaker season 2, and his Superman role is actually even smaller. Towards the end of the movie after Lex Luthor is arrested, we see the wealthy industrialist being interviewed on TV, and all he has to say is: "The one thing both the left and right can agree on is that Lex Luthor sucks."
We know that Lord funds the trio of Metahumans known as the Justice Gang, but we don't really learn much about him aside from this. Will he turn out to be a villain like his comic book counterpart? There's always a chance his actions will lead to Guy Gardner, Mr. Terrific and Hawkgirl breaking away from the corporate-owned team to form a new "League" with Superman down the line.
James Gunn has now taken to social media to share a new look at Lord on the cover of his in-universe biography.
Superman stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho.
The cast also Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell as "Ma" and "Pa" Kent, and Milly Alcock's Supergirl has been confirmed to make her debut ahead of her own Woman of Tomorrow movie.
"And that’s a wrap," Gunn posted last year when filming concluded. "God bless our cast and crew whose commitment, creativity, and hard work have brought this project to life. I set out to make a movie about a good man in a world that isn’t always so much. And the goodness and kindness and love I’ve encountered on a daily basis on the set has inspired me and thrust me forward when I felt too spent to move on my own.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It has been an honor. The destination has been Superman, but the journey has been the toil and the laughter and the emotions and ideas and magic we’ve shared together on set - and for that I am forever grateful."
You can check out a synopsis for the movie below.
"In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor and heart, delivering a Superman who’s driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind."