James Gunn Is Not Messing Around: Nathan Fillion Will Play Green Lantern Guy Gardner In 'Superman: Legacy'
Wasting absolutely zero time to build out the DC Universe, Superman: Legacy writer-director James Gunn is already adding a Green Lantern to the mix. Guy Gardner isn't held in the same esteem as, say, Hal Jordan or John Stewart in Green Lantern Corps. lore, but this is still awesome news.
Nathan Fillion has collaborated with Gunn multiple times, including on his directorial debut Slither, the gritty "superhero" movie Super, a DC project The Suicide Squad and even the latest Guardians of the Galaxy installment (had a cameo, too, in the first GotG). Interestingly, Fillion has also voiced Hal Jordan's Green Lantern in three different animated films, so he's steeped in DC lore to say the least, especially when it comes to the Lantern Corps.
For those who are confused as to why Jordan or Stewart aren't Gunn's Lanterns of choice, that's because there's a TV project in development starring those characters as the co-leads of what Gunn described as a True Detective-esque series.
Not to take anything away from the other heroes who Gunn confirmed to be cast in Superman: Legacy. Mister Terrific will be making his live-action movie debut. Edi Gathegi is more than capable of filling the role, given that he's familiar with the comic book genre (X-Men: First Class) and I also just think he's a really good actor, evident in his turn in the excellent Apple TV+ series For All Mankind.
Hawkgirl, like Mister Terrific, was seen in the Arrowverse saga on The CW, and we got a Hawkman in Smallville and even last year's Black Adam. Should be interesting to see what Gunn has in store for the character in Superman: Legacy, as Isabela Merced takes on the role. Don't know much about her except that she was Dora the Explorer and is about to blow up. Quite a slate coming up for her between this, a new Alien movie, and she's in the upcoming Spiderverse live-action spin-off Madame Web.
The whole "in medias res" approach Gunn appears to be taking to this new era of DC should serve the larger narrative very well. It doesn't feel like a total rush job like the last iteration of Warner Bros' interconnected movie universe. There's an actual plan! Like, a decade-long, well-conceived plan!
Green Lantern is an integral part of the Justice League. I doubt we'll get one of those team-up movies for quite some time. Instead, heck it looks like the Justice League might already be established in the DCU and it'll be sprinkled into all the standalone flicks. Whatever the case, Superman: Legacy appears to be taking big swings out of the gate and packing a whole lot into one movie.
I imagine the next major casting news about Superman's archnemesis Lex Luthor will drop soon-ish. The Skarsgard Bros. are reportedly on the Lex short list. I advocated for Glenn Howerton based on his performance in BlackBerry. In researching this blog, I discovered that Howerton was Gunn's second choice behind Chris Pratt to play Star-Lord. Had no idea. My mind is blown. Food for thought, that!