As James Gunn continues filming 2025’s Superman as the lynchpin for the Gods and Monsters chapter of his DCU, fans are also eagerly awaiting all the other big upcoming DC movies and shows, from the animated series Creature Commandos to the adaptation of Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Max’s Lanterns is also in the mix there, and while it’s easy to understand why, I do still wish the version that was initially focused on Alan Scott and Guy Gardner was coming, and it sounds like the previously cast Finn Wittrock shares that opinion, though he’s not overly upset about missing out.
At the time, Wittrock was cast as Guy Gardner, who will now be appearing in Superman and other DCU projects as portrayed by Nathan Fillion. The AHS vet held the role on paper for around a year and a half before the news broke that the project was getting a complete overhaul with a new lead character. The actor has kept pretty mum about all things superheroes in the months that followed, but opened up to ComicBook.com regarding his thoughts about missing out on playing a Lantern. Here's how he put it:
I had like 20 Green Lantern comics sitting in my closet. I was starting to read the comics, my five year old son, would find the comics and be like 'Dad, what's this?' And I was like, 'Research from a project that never was.' But yeah, it gave me a great education, into Green Lantern already. And now, I'm kind of hooked on to the story. So, it was definitely, I won't say it didn't sting to find out the news that it wasn't happening. But, I think it was nice because I got to realize what I would need to do to prepare for a role like that.
First, it's kind of a heartbreaking reality check to talk wistfully to a five-year-old kid about gigs that weren't meant to be. Especially since the tyke was possibly just enthused by the bright colors and cover art.
But on the more positive side of things, it rocks that Finn Wittrock could come away from that kind of job loss with any kind of a positive attitude, since it probably required time and commitment that could have been put into another project that actually did see the light of day. And he can still put that energy into another character, should one come his way. He continued:
So, hopefully, some other comic book role will, the one that's supposed to be, will come my way. And then at least like have some kind of heads up about how to enter that world.
By all means, I can't wait to see Nathan Fillion rocking out as Guy Gardner on the big screen, so I can't exactly hate on the way things turned out. But I also think Wittrock is kind of perfect for the current state of DC projects, given his background in theater and genres of all kinds. He knows how to play loud, brash and broad, but can also dial it all way down for something more quiet and contemplative. Maybe James Gunn can find another spot for him in the DCU somewhere. (Maybe I should have added him to my ideas for DCU Joker actors, given his turn as quasi-Twisty the Clown in American Horror Story: Freak Show.)
And for what it's worth, Wittrock told ComicBook.com that he would absolutely have gone the whole nine yards with Guy Gardner's red hair and bowl cut, even though he was waiting until the last possibly moment to make that change. That turned out to be a wildly wise move on his part.
Former Ozark showrunner Chris Mundy is behind Max's Lanterns, which hasn't unveiled any huge reveals in a while, so hopefully more information is coming soon.
