Posted in: Comics, HBO, Max, Movies, TV | Tagged: Maxwell Lord, peacemaker, superman

James Gunn Confirms Sean Gunn Playing OG Maxwell Lord in DCU

James Gunn confirmed that in the DCU, Sean Gunn's Maxwell Lord is how the character was first envisioned and not the "evildoer" he became.

In December 2023, reports surfaced that DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran had found DCU's Maxwell Lord in Sean Gunn (Marvel Studios' "Guardians of the Galaxy" films). Created by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire, the character first debuted in 1987's Justice League #1 and would go on to become one of the more complex characters in the comics universe – opinions straddling the line between a misunderstood dude with good intentions and a "big bad" with some ugly plans for the future. Of course, much of that had to do with how the character was represented (and retconned) over the years.

Shortly after the news hit, DeMatteis took to social media to make it clear their Maxwell Lord wasn't a villain and that he hoped Gunn went with Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire's version. Gunn tagged DeMatteis in his response, siding with DeMatteis when it comes to pushing back on the idea of Lord being solely a "big bad," adding that the character was a difficult one to pin as being any one thing. That led to a great exchange between the two, with DeMatteis diving deeper into how he sees Maxwell Lord, while Gunn makes an excellent comparison between Lord and Amanda Waller from John Ostrander's run as writer on DC Comics' Suicide Squad.

"He's flawed (and in the early stories manipulated by a sentient AI), a bit of a con man, but, in the end, Max has a heart of gold and loves his team. But I'm sure you know that!" DeMatteis wrote in response to Gunn. Following up on what was a great mini-analysis of thecharacter, Gunn added, "I like the nuanced Max for sure. The 'evil Max' is in some good stories by some good writers & artists, but I always loved the character in JLI for being multidimensional – same way I loved Waller in Ostrander's 'Squad.' Two characters able to step out of the all-good or all-evil paradigm that was de rigueur in those days (and, still is, actually.)"

Since that time, we've seen Sean Gunn's Maxwell Lord in both Superman and Peacemaker Season 2. While he might come across a bit too slick and "PR," Gunn's Lord is clearly a nod to the character's creators' original take, a topic Gunn addressed on social media when asked if the DCU's Lord was the same as the villain in the comics universe. "Max was retconned as a sort of muscular evildoer after originally being conceived by [DeMatteis] as a multi-layered character who was morally gray. Along with skinny Amanda Waller, it wasn't one of my favorite comic reimaginings. Our Max is inspired by the originally version. So don't be waiting for him to shoot Blue Beetle in the face," Gunn explained. We're guessing he won't be getting his neck snapped by Wonder Woman anytime soon, either…

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