James Gunn Says Finding the Right Superman Is Tougher Than Casting Batman – Here’s Why

James Gunn says casting Superman is a bigger challenge than casting Batman.

The DC filmmaker explained that while Batman wears a mask, Superman is always fully visible, which makes finding the right actor more difficult.

“Batman’s wearing a mask. Batman doesn’t have Batman face, like the thing about our Supermans is they’ve all had Superman face… That’s a specific sort of thing because people kind of have some idea of what Superman looks like from the comics,” Gunn said on the YMH Studios podcast.

Previously, Gunn also shared his thoughts on casting Batman for the upcoming DC Universe films. “Do I have ideas about actors to play Batman? Absolutely, I do. I have guys I like. I have guys that are at the top of the list, just like I had people that were at the top of the list for Superman,” he said. But he added that the final choice isn’t confirmed.

“But let me tell you something, they aren’t David Corenswet, right? They didn’t get the job. People can guess, and maybe they’ll be right about certain things. I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re talking about specifically. [It’s] totally up in the air.”

Gunn explained that casting Batman properly will take more than just choosing a name. “We’d have to screen test, we’d have to do the whole thing. It’s unlikely that I’m going to hire someone that’s [like] Sylvester Stallone as Batman [where] we’re just hiring him. It’s unlikely that Batman’s going to be one of those guys. But it’s possible! I know one actor in particular who’s a pretty big star that wants to be Batman. We’ve talked about it, but I’m not sure that’s the case,” he said.

The new Batman is expected to make his proper debut in the DC Universe in the upcoming live-action film The Brave and the Bold. Gunn also confirmed that Wonder Woman has not yet been cast.

Casting iconic superheroes is always tricky because fans have strong ideas about how they should look and act. Gunn’s comments show he’s taking his time to get it right.

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