James Gunn says he doesn’t have to explain why he plays favorites, before explaining why he plays favorites

Whenever a new project is announced that’s either written, directed, or produced by James Gunn is announced, you can bank on at least one or two of the filmmaker’s regular collaborators factoring into the equation somehow.

The downside is that it’s led to the co-CEO of DC Studios being accused of playing favorites, even when he makes a point of noting that he had nothing to do with wife Jennifer Holland or longtime friend Steve Agee being recruited for the post-credits scene of Shazam! Fury of the Gods after Dwayne Johnson gave it a hard pass.

Nonetheless, it doesn’t do Gunn any favors among his most vocal critics for the cast of Creature Commandos – the first project under he and Peter Safran’s stewardship to have revealed its ensemble in full – to feature brother Sean Gunn, DCU regular Agee, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s Maria Bakalova among its number.

Naturally, accusations of favoritism were instantly leveled, but despite claiming that he wasn’t going to justify it with an explanation, The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker creator nonetheless did exactly that.

Gunn is hardly the first creative mind in the industry to cast the same people over and over again, but because he took over at DC and disregarded the SnyderVerse as one of his first orders of business, haters are going to nitpick every single call that he makes. That’s not going to change, nor should it detract from the fact that Creature Commandos has amassed one hell of a stacked roster.