Marvel & DC Star Weighs in on the MCU vs DCU Debate

Sean Gunn, brother of Guardians of the Galaxy director and current head of the DC Comics film division James Gunn, knows a bit about the inner workings of DC and Marvel. Gunn not only portrayed Kraglin in the Guardians films, he also starred in the James Gunn-directed The Suicide Squad pulling double duty as Weasel and Calendar Man, and he’s all set to debut in the new DC universe as the villainous Maxwell Lord in Superman. In an interview with The Wrap, Gunn addressed the MCU versus DCU debate, explaining that the two companies aren’t actually all that alike, despite what fans may think. A big reason for that is that he came into Marvel when it was already established, while DC is now at the beginning stages following James Gunn’s a reboot.

“I came into the whole process of working at Marvel once the machine was kind of already up and running smoothly and doing well. DC, I’ve done ‘Suicide Squad,’ but now they’re kind of overhauling it, and it’s new ever since my brother took over as head of the studio. It’s sort of been a new process for them. So it would be, it’s really kind of true, like trying to compare apples and oranges.”

While his Marvel fate is currently unknown, Sean Gunn is set to appear in both Supermanand Creature Commandos in this new DC universe. And he credits his brother with making the transition easy for him…

“Underneath it all, working with my brother is more similar than it is different to other things,” he said. “So the fact that I was working with James in Marvel and James in DC makes it actually — there’s a lot more similarities in terms of process.”

With two roles in upcoming DC Comics projects, Gunn has a lot on his plate in the foreseeable future. On top of Maxwell Lord in Superman, he’s reprising his role as Weasel in Creature Commandos, an animated series set in the new universe. He’ll also be the voice of G.I. Robot in the same project. There are a lot of questions about what films and shows make the cut in the new universe, with characters from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, both James Gunn-directed projects, being played by the same actors again in the new DCU. However, while Gunn has confirmed that the events of Peacemaker Season 1 aren’t canon, the existence of Amanda Waller and other familiar characters could mean that The Suicide Squad has not suffered the same fate.

Although James Gunn came right out and said Peacemaker wasn’t canon, The Suicide Squad is toeing the line. In the first Creature Commandos trailer, Waller reveals to Rick Flag Sr. that the in-universe Suicide Squad has been dissolved in favor of the new team of creatures. This could end up meaning Gunn’s Weasel is the same one we saw in the events of the 2021 film.

In the case of Lord, it’s much easier to make the clean transition since an entirely new actor is portraying the character following Pedro Pascal’s performance in Wonder Woman 1984. He’s currently set to appear as a background character in Superman, but there’s the chance he blossoms into a much bigger role as the universe progresses.