Sean Gunn’s name is attached to some of the biggest movies of all time (including Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, as well as Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame), but also some of the most outrageous cult films in modern memory, like the workplace horror-thriller The Belko Experiment or the twisted “real life” superhero dramedy Super. 30 years after his first movie role in Troma’s Shakespearean satire Tromeo and Juliet, Sean Gunn is still popping up in fun roles in some wild independent gems – in addition to his continued presence in big franchises like the DC Universe, where he plays industrialist Maxwell Lord.
Right now, you can find Sean Gunn starring in Apoofeniacs, an indie horror-thriller-comedy about just how quickly AI, deepfakes, and social media antics can take a hard, dark, left turn. When we talked to Sean Gunn about the film, we also took the opportunity ot talk to him about his future in the DCU, as well as his brother James Gunn’s upcoming Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, a film Sean is already proclaiming to be his favorite of the James Gunn Marvel and DC Movies.
When I talked to Sean Gunn, I pointed out that a year from now, James Gunn will have made six blockbuster superhero movies: 3 Marvel Cinematic Universe films (The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy), and 3 DCU films (The Suicide Squad, Superman, Man of Tomorrow). The question was: which set of films would end up being his greatest? And how much does Man of Tomorrow tip that scale, one way or another?
“It weighs everything on it,” Sean Gunn explained. “Because I can tell you: I can’t say anything about Man of Tomorrow in terms of what it’s about or who’s in it, or whatever. But I think it’s okay that I can say that I’ve read it, and it’s my favorite of all of them. So I’ll be very curious to come back a year from now and talk to people about what they like the best.”
Being an ambassador of all things fandom, Gunn wasn’t about to let the idea of ranking James Gunn’s comic book movies against one another stand. In his view, fans win when both franchise’s offer their best.
“I also want to say: it’s not a competition. I’m so proud of the Guardians movies and the role I played there, and I think that I root for all of them. You just want the stories to be good; you want the products to be good; you don’t want to be like, ‘This is better than that!’ It’s more like this is for the audience that loves this; and the audience that loves this [other franchise], loves this. And let’s just keep trying to tell good stories and bring everybody into the fold.”
Sean Gunn made his DCU debut as Maxwell Lord in James Gunn’s Superman last year. The character is a shrewd businessman who has traditionally been a major antagonist to heroes like Wonder Woman and the Justice League. In the DCU, Maxwell Lord has sponsored his own superhero team, the “Justice Gang,” whose roster includes Green Lantern Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi). Lord and the Justice Gang also popped up in Season 2 of Peacemaker, where they were trying to expand their ranks by recruiting people like Peacemaker.
With Maxwell Lord being an early throughline for the various DCU projects, it’s no surprise that Sean Gunn confirmed he has more DCU appearances as the character on the way. “I’m really happy,” Gunn said. “I’ve also been continuing to play Maxwell Lord – I can’t say in what, but I have a couple more projects that I’ve been able to play Maxwell Lord in. And I’m having great fun doing that, and I’m incredibly excited about what DC is doing. And I think the way that those pieces are starting to come together is incredibly exciting.”
Indeed, various threads of the DCU franchise are starting to tie together in fun ways. Guy Gardner made a pivotal appearance in HBO’s breakout hit Lanterns, where his corporate ties and celebrity persona were called into question by his fellow Lantern John Stewart. So far, Maxwell Lord hasn’t been confirmed for Man of Tomorrow, but James sneaking him in for a brief cameo wouldn’t shock us.
Beyond that, it’s very curious to hear Gunn indicate that there are “a couple more projects” he’ll be appearing as Maxwell Lord. The DCU slate has gone through some big revisions since it was first announced, and the exact lineup is hard to track. As of writing this, Maxwell Lord could pop up in projects like the Superman spinoff The People v Gorilla Grodd, a Wonder Woman movie (the character is rumored to debut in MoT), and/or the next season of the animated series Creature Commandos. Any one of them (or all of them) would benefit from having Sean Gunn in the cast.
Be sure to check out Sean Gunn in Appofenias when it hits theaters in limited release on October 2nd.
