April 27, 2024

Nathan Fillion Joins Superman: Legacy In A Perfect Casting

The website Deadline is reporting that DC Studios co-head James Gunn has added to the cast of the upcoming movie Superman: Legacy, bringing on board one of his go-to actors, Nathan Fillion, for the role he was born to play, the Green Lantern Guy Gardner.

Also joining the cast is Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, and Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, seemingly setting up some version of a Justice League team. Merced is probably best known for playing Dora the Explorer in the live action movie Dora and the Lost City of Gold (as Isabela Moner). We don’t know what take writer and director Gunn will have on the various confusing backstories for Hawkgirl from the comics, but given what he brought to the nearly unknown characters Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher 2 in The Suicide Squad, I’m confident he will make it interesting.

Gathegi has a much deeper level of experience, going all the way back to the movie Gone, Baby, Gone and as recent as the excellent western The Harder They Fall. But most of us nerds will remember him as the very poorly used X-Men character Darwin in X-Men: First Class. The debates online about how Darwin’s mutant ability simply made it impossible for (spoilers) Sebastian Shaw to kill him are almost as numerous as grains of sand on a beach. Or opinions on the internet.

Back to Fillion’s casting as Guy Gardner — Fillion has made a career playing characters that are too full of themselves, from the lovable charming jerk Mal Reynolds to most recently the security leader Master Karja in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Guy Gardner, in the comics at least, is nothing if not a jerk too full of himself to be very likeable. Guy is responsible for one of my favorite moments in comics, in Justice League #5 back in 1987, when Batman knocks Guy the eff out with one punch. And Guy royally deserved it.

However, despite being almost impossible to get along with on any team, Guy is a Green Lantern, his willpower is enormous, and he is a hero. Just not one you want to spend time with after the lifesaving is done. No shawarma team meals for any team Guy is on. Please, Mr. Gunn, recreate this moment pictured below in the movie, with Batman if he is going to be in it, or Mr. Terrific (possible even more satisfying) if not.

Superman: Legacy, which stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, is currently set to open July 11, 2025.

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The best punch in comic history. Art by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire

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