Summary
- Kurt Russell expresses interest in playing Jor-El in James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy, citing Marlon Brando’s performance as inspiration.
- Russell mentions the lack of information about Jor-El and suggests there may be a new take on the character.
- Having enjoyed working with James Gunn, Russell leaves the door open for the possibility of joining the DC Universe.
Kurt Russell, who starred in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, talks about whether or not he would be open to play Jor-El in Superman: Legacy as part of the DC Universe. Ever since the SAG-AFTRA strike officially came to an end, the Superman: Legacy cast has been able to continue adding new actors for the highly anticipated DC Universe movie. However, there are likely a few more characters being cast before principal photography begins next year.
In a new interview with Comic Book, Russell was directly asked if he had any interest in playing Superman’s biological father, Jor-El, in Gunn’s Superman: Legacy. While reflecting on the performance by Marlon Brando in Superman: The Movie, Russell shared the following about potentially joining Gunn’s DC Universe as Jor-El:
Yeah! Yeah, I’ll take on Marlon Brando! I mean there was something awesome about the way he was just looking around – I don’t care that he was looking at his lines – he’s crazy great to watch! You know what: we don’t know a lot about Jor-El. Maybe there’s a version… I never heard this, so I don’t know. James Gunn was a blast to work with though, so you never know.
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Superman: Legacy’s Movie Changes Make Jor-El Even More Exciting
Even though Jor-El has been reimagined several times for different Superman movies and TV shows, both in live-action and animation, Superman: Legacy has the opportunity to tackle him from a new angle. In almost every Superman adaptation, the audience is usually shown when Clark Kent discovers Jor-El for the first time, as they build a relationship from that point. However, Gunn has made it clear that Superman: Legacy will not be an origin story, with Clark being early into his career as a superhero.
If Jor-El is actually in Superman: Legacy, that would mean he and Clark will already have a dynamic established, which could be refreshing, depending on how Gunn does it. Looking at Smallville as an example, the Tom Welling-starring series spent several seasons where Clark and Jor-El struggled to find a father-son relationship – made more complicated by the fact that the latter was a Kryptonian A.I. programmed for the Fortress of Solitude – until they got to a solid point later in the series. For Superman: Legacy, the DC Universe installment could already be set after any struggles between the two characters, as Jor-El serves as a guide for Clark’s Kryptonian exploration.
At the time of this story’s publication, there have been no official reports on Jor-El getting cast for Superman: Legacy.
It will genuinely be fascinating to see how Gunn approaches major Superman cornerstones like Jor-El and the Fortress of Solitude for this version of the DC Universe. Given how other Superman TV and movies have depicted Jor-El, seeing a new interpretation could breathe fresh life into the world, especially if done alongside other key Superman characters. Hopefully, Gunn will have more Superman: Legacy news to announce sooner rather than later as 2023 gets ready to close out.
Source: Comic Book