‘Superman: Legacy’ has plenty of costumed crimefighters, but the fandom demands key characters instead

With yesterday’s news that James Gunn has finally cast several vital parts for Superman: Legacy, fans who are excited about the Suicide Squad director’s upcoming DCU reboot have had plenty to discuss over the past 24 hours.

There have been plenty of Reddit threads and Twitter posts about the topic, but the gist is that Isabela Merced will take on the role of Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi will play Mister Terrific, and — the news that generated the most buzz — Nathan Fillion has been cast as a Green Lantern (emphasis on “a,” as opposed to “the,” before everyone gets mad that Guy Gardner won’t be played by a natural redhead). The trio will be joining Americans David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan, who were announced as the two leads — Clark Kent himself and his longtime love interest, Lois Lane — just over a fortnight ago.

While it’s interesting to see all the heroes being cast for what is shaping up to be another Gunn ensemble, fans of Superman have been clamoring to see who will take on some vital, albeit costumeless roles in the Guardians of the Galaxy director’s upcoming film, which he also wrote the script for.

Three of the biggest characters who are yet to be cast are the curious, sweet, and loyal photojournalist Jimmy Olsen, Clark Kent and Lois Lane’s close friend; the Man of Steel’s easily angered but ultimately fair boss in his day job, Perry White; and Superman’s adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent (or Ma and Pa Kent, as they’re often known).

We don’t know much about the plot of the new film, as Gunn has taken a page out of the MCU book for his latest project, and is attempting to run the tightest of ships when it comes to leaks. However, there’s basically no doubt that these characters will form part of the film thanks to their importance to the world of Superman.

Fans have been putting forward some great suggestions for the role, although it has to be noted they’ve been pretty wrong so far when it comes to figuring out what Gunn wants (hardly anybody had Corenswet and Brosnahan down as favorites for their leading roles). With that said, Kurt Russel or Brendan Fraser as Jonathan Kent has been bandied about online, and we can’t argue against either actor as being great choices for the role. One commenter even posited that we could see a gender-swapped Olsen, played by I Am Not Okay With This star Sophia Lillis.

Like many aspects of Superman: Legacy, it seems that all we can really do is wait for more information.