The New DCU Casts Its Green Lantern

Move over, Ryan Reynolds; there’s a new Green Lantern in Sector 2814.

When Superman: Legacy premieres in theaters in a few years, kicking off James Gunn’s new DC Universe, the Man of Steel won’t be the only superhero on hand. Gunn himself confirmed today that at least three other famous DC superheroes will appear in the movie. Isabela Merced will play Hawgirl, Edi Gathegi is Mr. Terrific, and none other than frequent James Gunn collaborator Nathan Fillion will portray the DCU’s first Green Lantern.

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Fillion’s character, Guy Gardner, is a different Green Lantern than the one played by Ryan Reynolds in his disastrous Green Lantern film. That was Hal Jordan; in DC Comics, the Green Lanterns are commonly portrayed as a sort of space police force, made up of hundreds of heroes who each wield their own green power ring. After Jordan lost his gig as Green Lantern at one point, Guy Gardner became his temporary replacement. According to Vanity Fair…

Among the rest of the aliens and humans who serve in that group of galactic peacekeepers, Gardner is known as an abrasive, sometimes obnoxious presence. The role also brings a dose of awkward comedy to Superman Legacy. The character is known for his iconic bowl cut haircut, which will be a part of Fillion’s look in the film.

Although Guy Gardner has never appeared in a film before, he was very nearly set to get his own TV show recently. For a while DC was developing a new Green Lantern series for HBO Max (it was still called that back then), and that show was going to feature Finn Wittrock as Guy Gardner. But the show never came together, and instead DC eventually pivoted to a full-blown relaunch of their universe, overseen by Gunn.

Guy Gardner is not Nathan Fillion’s first DC character, either. He previously appeared in Gunn’s The Suicide Squad as TDK, which stands for “The Detachable Kid.” He was a laughably ineffective hero who could detach his own arms and then control them from a distance. Frankly, TDK should be in Superman: Legacy, not Guy Gardner. But that’s just my opinion. Congrats either way to Nathan Fillion — who has previously worked with Gunn on films like Slither, Super, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Superman: Legacy is scheduled to open in theaters in the summer of 2025. Gunn recently cast David Corenswet as his new Man of Steel.