With the premiere of “Peacemaker” Season 2 this week, Sean Gunn will have three projects under his belt in his brother James Gunn’s new DC Universe. And, according to the actor, the clear trend seems to be that this cinematic world will be storyteller-oriented.
Sean Gunn made his DCU debut as a voice in “Creature Commandos,” the animated series that premiered at the end of 2024. In July, he appeared in live action, debuting as Maxwell Lord in the briefest of moments in “Superman.” Now, he returns as the character in “Peacemaker,” as Lord continues to recruit for the Justice Gang, who fans also met in “Superman.”
Speaking to TheWrap at FanExpo Chicago on Sunday, Sean admitted that fans are “not going to see a ton of him” in the series, as the character is still slowly being seeded in. But he himself has now seen enough of his brother’s vision for this DCU that he can confidently say it’s a playground for creators.
“What I get most excited about is the idea of all of these things living in the same world, but having freedom to to be the unique vision of whatever storyteller is telling the story,” Sean explained. “So, all these different stories live in the same world, but they have different creators and they can be different genres even.”
“You may have something that’s a little more horror-bent or a little more dramatic-bent, in addition to the action movies and the more superhero kind of fare, and I love that,” he continued. “I love the idea of even playing a character who you need to adjust what they’re doing because the genre is a little different.”
Sean noted that it’s not only a challenge for actors, but also fun for audience members who will get to see more shades of their favorite characters, depending on what project they’re appearing in.
“It makes it similar to comics, in that comics have the freedom to have their own unique voice within the series that they’re in, but also those characters have a center that you don’t always want to deviate,” he said. “So I’m really excited to see how it all looks after a few years.”
Of course, even being the younger brother of a studio head doesn’t mean Sean Gunn gets the full roadmap of where the DCU is headed. He conceded that James does fill him in “when he can,” so he’s always at least a little bit ahead of audiences. That said, Sean also admitted that even his brother is learning things along the way.
“I don’t know that he always knows the long-term vision,” he explained. “He has bullet points for where things need to go and he keeps his eye on telling a great story, and never deviating from that part of it.”
“Peacemaker” Season 2 premieres on Aug. 21 on HBO Max.
