Sean Gunn Highlights Vast Differences in MCU and DCEU Processes ‘Like Apples And Oranges’

Sean Gunn, known for his roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Guardians of the Galaxy series and DC Extended Universe’s The Suicide Squad, recently shared his insights on the differences and similarities between the two superhero franchises. Apparently, they’re not as similar as you’d think.

While acknowledging that the two universes are often compared, Gunn emphasized that his experiences were distinct due to each franchise’s differing stages of development when he joined. He joined Marvel at a time when the MCU was already well-established and could do no wrong. Guardians of the Galaxy was phase 2 of the MCU, and we were about to be introduced to Ultron. On the other hand, Gunn’s involvement in DC occurred during significant changes and reboots.

If anything, it was like going from a place that had a plan and was doing well with it to a place that had just had to redo everything because it wasn’t working like they needed it to. It echoes what fans have been seeing from news around the studio. All things considered, it’s hard to say the DCEU is a real rival to the MCU.

Gunn explained to TheWrap that despite these differences, the most significant similarity for him was working with his brother, James Gunn, who has been involved in both franchises. He described the experience as a constant, regardless of the specific universe. The actor also touched on DC’s ongoing reboot under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s leadership. He noted that this new direction has made his experience with DC unique.

It’s sort of been a new process for them. So it would be, it’s really kind of true, like trying to compare apples and oranges… Underneath it all, working with my brother is more similar than it is different to other things,” he said. “So the fact that I was working with James in Marvel and James in DC makes it actually — there’s a lot more similarities in terms of process.

Sean Gunn

Looking ahead, Gunn teased his upcoming portrayal of Maxwell Lord in the upcoming Superman film. He revealed that his interpretation will be distinct from previous live-action versions, drawing inspiration from written materials and his own understanding of the character. This is the big difference between James Gunn and Zack Snyder. Snyder was very open about not beholding to the comics, even going as far as making Batman kill and saying he’d be irrelevant otherwise.

We may see things become more similar with time under James Gunn’s leadership, as he is well known for caring about the source material, which is what the Marvel Cinematic Universe does so well. We’ll see if this new direction for the DC Expanded Universe can bridge the similarities between the studios.