DC Studios confirmed that two characters in James Gunn's rebooted DC Universe will be played by the same actor.
As Gunn's new slate of DCU projects looks to kick off, bringing Creature Commandos to Max in 2024 and Superman: Legacy in theaters in 2025, the time has come to dive into casting the next DC headliners on screen.
Gunn is already hard at work on this task, confirming that both Viola Davis and his brother, Sean Gunn, will be part of the new universe in Waller and Creature Commandos, respectively.
And with rumors also teasing the work being done for the DCU's new Man of Steel, even more new confirmations recently came to light for the blue brand's early days.
DCU Casts One Star for Multiple Roles
As part of the announcement confirming the cast of DC Studios' Creature Commandos, co-CEO James Gunn revealed that his brother Sean Gunn will play two different roles.
He'll provide the voices for Weasel, a part he played in 2021's The Suicide Squad, along with GI Robot in the DCU's first new project. DC fans will recall that Sean also had a one-scene role in 2021's The Suicide Squad as the villain Calendar Man.
On top of his work with DC, Sean also played the on-set stand-in for Rocket Raccoon in James's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy along with the role of Kraglin.
James spoke numerous times about how much he enjoys working with his brother, posting on Facebook in 2017 that it's "probably [his] favorite thing about [his] job" following Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's release:
"Working with my brother Sean Gunn is probably my favorite thing about my job. We played with Star Wars figures as kids coming up with elaborate scenarios and we’re using our imaginations in the same way with people and movies today!"
During production for The Suicide Squad, Sean also shared his own thoughts on working with James in an interview with Discussing Film.
When asked how different it is working on something with his brother, the actor called it "easier for the most part to work with James" because of their ability to communicate so well with one another.
"It’s largely the same, but it’s easier for the most part to work with James. I mean he and I have such a shorthand for communicating that I don’t ever wonder what the director wants, in the way that I often do with other projects."
While the relationship between a director and the actors in a movie is an important part of production, it's something that the Gunn brothers skip right over since they "already know how to collaborate with one another:"
"I think that the relationship between a director and an actor on any piece, it’s going to be different every time – it’s something you’ve got to learn. It’s like a coach and a player, it’s something you got to feel your way around and figure out how you best collaborate with one another. It’s part of the job. But it’s a part of the job that James and I can skip because we already know how to collaborate with one another."
DC Advances Forward With New Cast Members
James Gunn has openly discussed how he uses a number of the same actors in multiple projects, with Sean Gunn clearly understanding his brother's process better than anybody. And while he becomes the first actor to play more than one role in the DCU, the brothers are confident that this will bring an exciting new dynamic to this franchise as the reboot moves forward.
Following the Gunn brothers' work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 for Marvel Studios, they'll have the chance to work with an exciting crop of stars for their introduction to Gunn's new slate of projects in the DC Universe.
Within the last couple of weeks, Gunn announced his entire voice cast for Creature Commandos, which even brings over multiple big names from the MCU like Frank Grillo and David Harbour along with Sean Gunn.
And with plenty of new entries from Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters still being kept under wraps, the DC Studios head has more than a full slate of work ahead of him in developing this saga.
Creature Commandos is expected to release on Max sometime in 2024.
