Guardians of the Galaxy star Sean Gunn has been cast as the DCU's Maxwell Lord, and showed up in Superman for a cameo role (he'll next appear briefly in Peacemaker season 2). Crucially for this shared world, Lord is funding his own superhero team, dubbed the "Justice Gang."
That makes the character incredibly important to the DCU's future, and Gunn says he's excited to follow Lord throughout the vastly different genres and corners of the DC Universe this relaunched franchise will explore in the coming years. Superman was a PG-13 blockbuster, whereas Peacemaker is very R-rated, so he's already had a taste of that.
For Gunn, this provides him and other actors with the opportunity to play these characters in new ways as they bounce from project to project.
"What I get most excited about is the idea of all of these things living in the same world, but having freedom to to be the unique vision of whatever storyteller is telling the story," Gunn told The Wrap. "So, all these different stories live in the same world, but they have different creators and they can be different genres even."
"You may have something that’s a little more horror-bent or a little more dramatic-bent, in addition to the action movies and the more superhero kind of fare, and I love that," the actor continued. "I love the idea of even playing a character who you need to adjust what they’re doing because the genre is a little different."
Gunn added, "It makes it similar to comics, in that comics have the freedom to have their own unique voice within the series that they’re in, but also those characters have a center that you don’t always want to deviate. So I’m really excited to see how it all looks after a few years."
Fans are eager to learn more about DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn's plans for the DCU, and while Sean hasn't been completely filled in on where "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters" is heading, he believes his brother has at least a rough idea of where things are heading.
"I don’t know that he always knows the long-term vision," Sean explained. "He has bullet points for where things need to go and he keeps his eye on telling a great story, and never deviating from that part of it."
Gunn went on to say that he "wholeheartedly [agrees]" with James' suggestion that Lord isn't a clear-cut villain, explaining that his evil nature on the page "is certainly not something that is leading the way for me as I tackle the character."
"I think he’s a lot more nuanced than that," the actor noted. "He's not evil incarnate the way that Lex is. I think that LordTech is the altruistic corporation that really wants to make the world a better place, and I’m putting my money where my mouth is by trying to help this Justice Gang achieve a better world for everybody."
Gunn also confirmed that the Justice Gang name is "being workshopped," suggesting we will eventually see the superhero team—currently comprised of Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific, and Metamorpho—go by a far more familiar moniker (likely Justice League International based on the roster).
Are you excited to see more from the DCU's Maxwell Lord?