James Gunn Replaces Pedro Pascal With His Brother

The Guardians of the Galaxy director brought in certain changes into the new DCU, scrapping and completely reinventing numerous characters. According to Deadline, Gunn replaced Pedro Pascal as an actor portraying Maxwell Lord with another actor—his brother, Sean Gunn.

We can’t really say that Sean Gunn jumped ship with his brother, considering that he had previously portrayed various roles in both MCU and DC Expanded Universe.

Best known for his role as Kraglin in Guardians of the Galaxy, Sean Gunn is now set to appear in the first chapter of James Gunn’s new DC Universe, titled “Gods and Monsters, replacing Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord, which was previously introduced in Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 1984.

However, it’s still unclear just how much screen time Sean Gunn will receive and in which of the future releases.

James Gunn’s brother can make a cameo appearance in the upcoming DC release, Superman: Legacy—as per numerous speculations—but it’s also in the realm of possibilities that he’ll make an appearance in the post-credit scene, given their popularity.

This would be interesting, as many superhero movies and overarching and interconnected releases gradually reveal their big bad through credit scenes.

That’s assuming that Maxwell Lord is actually the big bad or at least one of its major lackeys.

The character of Maxwell Lord debuted in 1987’s Justice League #1; the character was initially conceived as an ally to the Justice League and the key to forming the Justice League International.

However, he ultimately became a superpowered foe to the superhero organization following a Gene Bomb exploded by alien invaders. The explosion triggered his latent metagene, which ultimately granted him the ability to mind-control others.

So, we’re intrigued as to how James Gunn would flesh the character out for his version of the DC Universe.

In the previous version of DC Expanded Universe, Maxwell Lord gained his power through Dreamstone, the DCEU version of Alladin’s Lamp.

These powers weren’t telekinetic; instead, he became the Dreamstone himself, acquiring the power to grant others’ wishes while also taking something of equal value from them in return.

However, it would seem that James Gunn’s version will remain true to the source material, at least to a greater extent, than Patty Jankin’s version was in Wonder Woman 1984.

Sean Gunn starred in numerous works of his brother, including the aforementioned Guardians of the Galaxy, the Suicide Squad film, and Tromeo and Juliet, all done by James Gun outside his DC work.

Sean and his brother also co-created the PG Porn series and The Belko Experiment, though it is worth noting that the actor has some independent credits to his name, including Super, The Good Doctor, A Terminal List, The Rookie, Robot Chicken, and Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.

We can’t wait to hear more about Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord in an upcoming release.