A former DC Comics artist opens up about Nathan Fillion’s portrayal of Green Lantern Guy Gardner, first revealed in James Gunn’s new Superman trailer.
Footage shows Fillion as Guy Gardner aiding Superman by using his ring to create a barricade, preventing people from entering the building and continuing their attack on the Man of Steel.
However, true to Gunn’s approach with Marvel’s cosmic characters, like the Guardians of the Galaxy (“Dance-off, bro?”), his portrayal of Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner is undeniably goofy — and, of course, intentionally so.
First look at Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner aka Green Lantern in #Superman 🟢pic.twitter.com/aS524XAAYb
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) December 19, 2024
“Atrociously stupid looking Nathan Fillion”
Now, a DC Comics artist with 30 years of experience shares his thoughts. He worked on Green Lantern at DC alongside Geoff Johns, earned millions from his creator-owned projects, runs a popular YouTube channel, and drew Guy Gardner.
While reviewing Gunn’s Superman trailer, Ethan Van Sciver described Nathan Fillion’s Green Lantern Guy Gardner as “atrociously stupid-looking” and a “humiliation”:
“Alright. So here we have an atrociously stupid looking Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner Green Lantern. This is a humiliation. And once again this leaked already [from a set imageb]. Like this image of him in costume looking stupid with that bull cut.”
Stuart Larkin from the Mad TV series
As pointed out by Van Sciver and fans watching the stream, Fillion looks just like Michael McDonald’s goofy Stuart Larkin from the Mad TV series:
He looks like the little kid from Mad TV who’s like [in Stu’s voice], ‘Look what I can do,’ and he’s like chained down. He’s on a leash. ‘Look what I can do.’ He looks just like that f’n kid. That’s Nathan. Yeah, Nathan Fillion. It’s so bad… Yeah, it’s Stu. It’s Stuart from Mad TV [laughs]. ‘Look what I can do.’
“He does not resemble Guy Gardner in any way at all”
Ethan continues and says Fillion looks nothing like the character he is playing:
“And James Gunn, it’s like, ‘Nathan Fillion wants to be in the movie?’ He wanted to be in the movie, and it’s like, ‘I want to be Green Lantern,’ and he really wanted to be Hal Jordan. You can tell, but they had to retrofit him to make him Guy Gardner. And he doesn’t look like Guy Gardner, okay. He doesn’t look like Guy Gardner.”
“There are lots of actors who might not have the marquee appeal — like the nerd marquee of Nathan Fillion — and I appreciate that you want to put him in the movie, but he is not Guy Gardner in any way. And I should know. I drew Guy Gardner for many years. He does not resemble Guy Gardner in any way at all.”
“Embarrassment from the ’80s”
Van Sciver also points out that Guy Gardner doesn’t have a bull cut anymore in the comics, that it was something from the ’80s comics and it wasn’t any good:
You should have done that… Instead of putting that stupid bowl cut on him. And by the way, Guy Gardner doesn’t even really wear the bowl cut anymore. That’s an embarrassment from the ’80s. You know, you could have found anybody — just a redheaded Irishman, a big chunk of a dude, a big jarhead Marine. Totally. Stuart finally grew up. Well, look at him. Tell me that doesn’t look like Stuart from Mad TV?
“This looks really bad”
As Ethan continues watching the scene, he also doesn’t like Fillion’s costume in Superman:
He’s got a Green Lantern symbol on his belt. Ridiculous. This looks really bad.
Superman is miserable
As many fans have pointed out, the trailer doesn’t come off as hopeful and even comes off as depressing. Van Sciver points out that the David Corenswet Superman looks miserable throughout the entire trailer:
Why exactly is this in the trailer? Why would this scene be in the trailer? It’s Guy Gardner walking over to Superman, who’s in mourning. Superman looks miserable in every single shot of this trailer. I’d like you to take note of the fact that, in every single shot of this trailer, Superman looks miserable. Maybe that’s deliberate. Maybe the entire point is for us to see Superman defeated, and then maybe the next trailer will be a little bit better — Superman looking cool.
Is there hope for Gunn’s new Man of Steel?
Van Sciver could be right. James Gunn certainly knows what he is doing by releasing a trailer with no hope and a miserable Superman. Gunn also released that first-look image of Corenswet putting the boots on where he looked pretty miserable as well.
Maybe the next trailer will be the Superman we all want to see? Let us know what you think of Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern in the comments below! Gunn’s Superman flies or cries into theaters on July 11, 2025!
What we coulda had pic.twitter.com/MfFSIMlyl1
— Cosmic Book News (@cosmicbooknews) December 21, 2024
