Summary

• Nathan Fillion declares his Superman character "Guy Gardner is 90% flawed and doesn't care."
• Fillion discovered he would be playing the Green Lantern Gardner from director James Gunn when they bumped into one another at The Suicide Squad (2021) premiere party.
• Guy Gardner first appears in the pages of Green Lantern No. 59 (1968).

Nathan Fillion reveals that "Guy Garnder is 90% flawed and doesn't care." Fillion will portray Sector 2814's Green Lantern in James Gunn's upcoming Superman film. The rogue GL Gardner first appears in the pages of Green Lantern No. 59 (1968). In his original comic book origin, Gardner serves as a back-up for Hal Jordan, who is Earth's primary Emerald Knight. And Fillion is excited to play up all of the hero's flaws in the first DCU feature film. Fillion said in an interview with Collider:

"The reality is that people have flaws. We all have quirks. We all have vulnerabilities. You could have the most wonderful family, but be like, ‘Oh, my God, my dad drives me nuts. He’s got this one thing.’ Everybody’s got something, and I love to lean into those faults and flaws.”

In the comic books, Gardner is even there when the Justice League tries to take out the infamous Superman killer Doomsday before the Man of Steel can arrive on the scene. Egotisical and overconfident in his own abilities, the Yellow Power Ring-wielding Gardner tries to take out the creature on his own. And even though Doomsday is still virtually trapped in his alien straight-jacket, the monster easily defeats Gardner.

With its one free hand, Doomsday grabs the superhero, smashes his head into the concrete face first, and the swelling leaves Gardner temporarily blind (photo below). In fact, another Justice Leaguer even has to point Gardner's Power Ring for him when Superman arrives, and they all engage the villain. Overconfidence is just one of those flaws Gardner exhibits time and time again in the source material. Fillion continued:

“It’s what makes people real and what allows audiences to relate, because we all know what that is. We all have our own. We witness it in other people. Guy Gardner is 90% flawed and doesn't care. That’s one of his flaws. I think there’s a real freedom in playing that. So, for a guy who likes to play flaws and flawed people, Guy Gardner is a gold mine."

How Nathan Fillion Found Out He'd Play Guy Gardner

During a recent interview with Superman co-star Isabela Merced, the actress dished a bit about working with Nathan Fillion and Edi Gathegi, who portrays Mr. Terrific in the upcoming DCU movie. Merced also revealed that she was scheduled to begin shooting the superhero film on Sunday, April 7.

For Fillion, the actor didn't even know he'd be playing the rogue Green Lantern Guy Gardner — the character eventually trades in his Emerald guise and sports Sinestro's Yellow Power Ring in the comic books — until he bumped into James Gunn at the premiere party celebrating The Suicide Squad (2021). Fillion said in the same interview:

"We were actually at the premiere party after Suicide Squad, and he was in a huge crowd of people. We saw each other in the crowd, and I congratulated him, ‘Oh, my God, that was amazing. It’s so great.’ He goes, ‘Hey, did Peter [Safran] tell you what we’ve got for you next?’ I said, ‘No, he hasn’t said.’ He looked around like someone was gonna be listening. We were in a throng of people, but he leaned over and said, ‘You’re gonna be Guy Gardner.’"

Fillion also shared his love for the superhero source material, particularly the comic books featuring the X-Men, Batman and Spider-Man.:

"I used to collect comic books. I had a comic book rack in my room that you could spin. I remembered Guardians of the Galaxy, and I remember that I couldn’t relate to it in any way. Just couldn’t get into it for any reason. Spider-Man held something for me. Batman had something that I really liked inside. The X-Men, I couldn’t get enough. But Guardians? Eh. That movie moved me.”

“Those movies make me feel things. And not just crying but feeling joy and feeling connections and feeling the love. It’s about family. It’s so much about family. I just think that’s what James Gunn does best. He says he’s thinking of something else that we’re all thinking of, and he just makes it so much better, and he makes the things that matter to us all."

James Gunn’s Superman soars up, up and away in theaters on July 11, 2025. And be sure to check MovieWeb for more DCU updates which are coming soon, according to David Zaslov.