James Gunn Responds To Sean Gunn Playing Multiple Characters In DCU

Some fans are agitated or even downright upset that Sean Gunn is playing multiple roles in the DCU.

James Gunn has cast his brother as Maxwell Lord, and Sean played Weasel in The Suicide Squad and is voicing GI Robot in the Creature Commandos animated series.

Well, that isn’t sitting well with some fans, for some reason, so of course, they barrage Gunn about it on social media bringing up something that Gunn said in the past.

A fan remarked on Threads accusing Gunn of lying about it, “Not casting one actor to play multiple characters huh.. you said not happening and lie detector shows that….”

Gunn shot back explaining what is going on with the castings in the DCU.

“I said, very clearly, actors will generally only be playing one character on screen, and said, in the same response, that for voice actors it’s not the same,” explained Gunn. “Sean, Alan Tudyk, Maria Bakalova, Steve Agee, etc, all play multiple roles in Creature Commandos. That doesn’t mean they won’t play different characters onscreen. So, what’s the need you have (and a handful of others) to do desperately need to believe I’m lying that you seem to purposefully ignore certain parts of what I said?”

Gunn is also bringing back Viola Davis as Amanda Waller and John Cena, which saw a fan remark about the Shazam: Fury of the Gods post-credit scene, “He probably including Peacemaker due to the 2 characters at the end of Shazam deux.”

Gunn replied, “It wasn’t my call and I didn’t write it – although it came out when I had just started at DC, its inclusion far predates me as (as does Harcourt as the warden of an underwater prison!), and, although I thought it was fun, I have no idea why those characters would be recruiting for the JS.”

Another fan remarked about Dwayne Johnson sticking around as Black Adam, “Since there is a place for Shazam in the DCU & both Shazam 2 & Peacemaker had Teasers for The Justice Society; can we expect The Rock to remain our Black Adam? I know nothing has been said, just please consider this & if possible, make it a reality. Thank you for everything so far.”

Gunn replied, “Wait, what do you consider the Peacemaker teaser of the Justice Society? (I wasn’t involved with the Shazam thing).”

James Gunn going with OG Maxwell Lord

Regarding Sean Gunn playing Maxwell Lord, possibly first appearing in Superman: Legacy, I also saw a remark about it on social media. My response. I don’t mind it and it shows that James Gunn is loyal. Also, Sean Gunn isn’t a bad actor by any means, so I’m open to it.

Maxwell Lord was co-created by J.D. Matteis whose version of the character isn’t really a villain, whom Gunn seems to be adapting for the CU.

“He’s flawed (and in the early stories manipulated by a sentient AI), a bit of a con man, but, in the end, Max has a heart of gold and loves his team. But I’m sure you know that!” the comic book creator said replying to Gunn.

Gunn answered back, “I like the nuanced Max for sure. The ‘evil Max’ is in some good stories by some good writers & artists, but I always loved the character in JLI for being multidimensional – same way I loved Waller in Ostrander’s squad. Two characters able to step out of the all-good or all-evil paradigm that was de rigueur in those days (and, still is, actually.)”