Following the official casting of Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, James Gunn is elaborating on why he picked this Green Lantern for Superman: Legacy.
Superman: Legacy director James Gunn has explained why Guy Gardner will be the first Green Lantern to appear in the new DC Universe. A new DC continuity is on its way from Gunn and Peter Safran as they are together running DC Studios, which will attempt to craft a fresh interconnected franchise for Warner Bros. Discovery based on the DC Comics characters. The first film that is currently being worked on is Superman: Legacy, featuring David Corenswet as the latest version of the Man of Steel.
A big surprise for the reboot was the batch of casting news that came out recently, including Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern in Superman: Legacy, specifically the Guy Gardner character. It didn’t take long for Gunn to offer more details on why he picked Guy as he gave some answers recently on Bluesky.
While @Krouss.net was “not upset” but rather “curious” about what made Gunn go with Guy as the Green Lantern for Superman: Legacy, the DC Studios co-CEO had two reasons. One of them was because of how much Gunn loves Guy “from JLI,” a.k.a. Justice League International, which is one of the teams that the Emerald Knight is part of in the comics. In addition to that, Guy “also fits the story” he is telling in Superman’s upcoming reboot.
How Superman: Legacy May Already Be Setting Up Another DC Universe Project
While Superman: Legacy is, obviously, centered on the Man of Steel and setting up his presence in the DC Universe, it still begs the question of whether or not the inclusion of Guy could perhaps be softly initiating another DCU Chapter 1 project. Even though Guy will be the first Green Lantern that fans get to see in DC Studios’ upcoming franchise, Gunn and Safran have already announced Lanterns, the upcoming Max series that will focus on Hal Jordan and John Stewart.
Lanterns, which will have a similar tone to True Detectives, will focus on a mystery that will go further into the main storyline that Gunn and Safran are telling in the DC Universe. With the Green Lantern Corps having this big of a role, it wouldn’t be shocking if Guy’s presence in Superman: Legacy will be a subtle kickstart tho those plans. Whether or not that means Fillion will show up in the actual Lanterns show remains to be seen, but given that DC Studios is aiming to be even more interconnected than the DCEU, having Guy show up for an episode or two would make sense.
Whether or not he shows up, it is still great to see how the DC Universe is finally embracing the Green Lantern mythology, with three of the famous heroes already confirmed to show up. This may also eventually lead to characters like Kyle Rayner, Simon Baz, Jessica Cruz, and Alan Scott getting introduced, not to mention the plethora of non-human ring-wearers. Hopefully, more clues about the Green Lanterns will be given in Superman: Legacy through Fillion’s hero.
