James Gunn responds to claims that his Superman: Legacy has too many characters with fans wondering just how many cameos are included in the movie.
Well, according to Gunn, the answer is zero.
Superman: Legacy boasts a ton of characters with more on the way as Pa Kent, Ma Kent, Perry White, and others are yet to be cast.
David Corenswet stars as Clark Kent and Superman, Rachel Brosnahan plays Lois Lane, Isabela Merced is Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion is Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and Edi Gathegi plays Mister Terrific. María Gabriela de Faría is playing The Engineer from The Authority, with Anthony Carrigan cast as Metamorpho. Skyler Gisondo is also playing Jimmy Olsen, and Sara Sampaio is Eve Teschmacher. Gunn recently confirmed Nicholas Hoult is playing Lex Luthor, and announced that his brother, Sean Gunn, is playing Maxwell Lord in the DCU. Miriam Shor is said to be playing the head of the CIA.
“We want a Superman movie”
Following all the recent casting announcements, a fan commented to James Gunn on Threads, “No more please we want a Superman movie lol.”
Gunn replied, “What single-protagonist movie doesn’t have more than ten speaking roles? There will be more.”
The fan replied, “Yeah I get that Mr Gunn, I’m talking about keeping the focus on Superman. It starting to looking like a DC super hero roster movie. All the OG superman movies had one superhero and worked just saying.”
Gunn shot back, “We aren’t those movies. We’re us.”
Another fan chimed in, “Right. Whenever somebody argues otherwise, show them a pic of the OPPENHEIMER cast.”
Gunn agreed, “Yep! So true. Very much a single protagonist film with a lot more characters than we have.”
“No more superhero cameos”
Another fan added, “I think what they’re saying is please no more superhero cameos setting up the new DC cinematic universe (in what you’ve repeatedly said is a standalone Superman movie).”
Gunn shot down the notion the roles are cameo roles.
“None of these roles is cameos,” he said.
Gunn added, “The whole point was it’s NOT a large film – I mean, not in terms of cast. It’s normal for single protagonist films to have other characters – much more unusual for them not to.”
“Cameo Porn”
Another fan remarked, “Finally someone who treats characters more than just *having character appear on screen for 10 seconds to mark a checkbox*”
Gunn replied, “I call that ‘Cameo Porn’ and it has been one of the worst elements of recent superhero films. If a character is in film, they have to have a reason to be there story-wise.”
Another fan said, “‘Cameo Porn’ is also no fun for the audience members who don’t already know the characters. It just takes them out of the movie and doesn’t provide a reward. But if the character serves the plot, they can be enjoyed by anyone.”
Gunn replied, “I don’t mind actual cameos – if it’s a glimpse or a moment, an Easter egg. What bothers me is when they mangle an elegant story by shoehorning characters in – they aren’t there because the story calls for it, but for some other reason.”
Cameos are cool?
A fan replied to Gunn’s answer, “I respect that take, but I definitely know that sometimes as a fan it’s cool to think about the interactions that happen offscreen between characters you like, and a good cameo can validate the idea that relationships have been deepened and they know each other better.”
Gunn said, “That’s fine if it doesn’t disrupt the story. It’s the plot contrivances that develop from a cameo, not the cameo itself.”
Superman: Legacy will be released on July 11, 2025.
