James Gunn looks at fan castings for his movies

James Gunn may be a fan-favorite director, but turns out he looks at fan ideas when it comes to casting his projects.

When it comes to superhero movie directors, there are only a few as well-liked as James Gunn. Even with his controversial decision to take the DC cinematic universe in a new direction, the fact that he has Guardians of the Galaxy and Suicide Squad under his belt has put a lot of fans’ faith in him.

Speaking of fans, turns out they could have been somewhat of an inspiration when it came to the casting of his upcoming movie, Superman: Legacy. This casting process seemed spread out over this year, with David Corenswet as Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane confirmed for their roles in late June. Then, in July Nathan Fillion and Edi Gathegi were locked in.

And now, in November, Nicholas Hoult, Skyler Gisondo and more were cast. But Gunn has recently begun to explain the casting process, including exactly how the fans were involved.

James Gunn explains Superman: Legacy casting

When speaking to fans on Instagram Threads, Gunn explained how the casting process for Superman: Legacy took place, including how the casting did not take place during the SAG-AFTRA strikes, which seemed to coincide with how casting news was released:

“That would never happen with any of the parties involved (not actors, not agents, not studios). Skyler Gisondo and Sara Sampaio and María Gabriela de Faría were all actually cast, contracts done, BEFORE the strike happened. And they were troopers about keeping the secret, which I’m sure was difficult.”

And in another turn of events, apparently Gunn finds fan casting (when fans post about who they’d like to be cast in which part) for his movies intriguing, stating: “When I’m casting a role I will sometimes see who fans have suggested online for folks I or my casting directors haven’t considered. Sometimes they have good ideas, sometimes terrible ones.”

However, he did add “I don’t remember it actually leading to someone being cast, however.”

Superman: Legacy will kick off the DCU by arriving in cinemas on July 11, 2025. Check out more of our Superman: Legacy news here, and you can also find out more about other major upcoming releases below:

Deadpool 3 | Rebel Moon | Ghostbuster Afterlife 2 | Venom 3 | John Wick 5 | Enola Holmes 3