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One of the biggest hurdles that the upcoming Superman movie has to overcome is the expectations that fans have for characters that appeared in the previous DC movie universe. We’re just a few years removed from Pedro Pascal’s portrayal of Maxwell Lord in Wonder Woman 1984, so we’re a little surprised the character is getting reintroduced in James Gunn’s Superman but that’s what’s happening – kinda.

“I asked my brother recently if I can even say that I’m in the movie,” Sean Gunn, the actor and brother of James Gunn, said at Northern Fancom over the weekend. “And he’s like, ‘You can say you’re kinda in the movie.’ So I’m kinda in the new Superman.”

While we’ve known that Sean Gunn would be playing Maxwell Lord in the new DCU films for a while now, we didn’t know how soon we’d get our first glimpse of him in the role. And glimpse is probably the right word here – we don’t expect to see more than an image or a brief cameo in Superman. Considering the movie will also introduce us to Guy Gardner, Mr. Terrific, Hawkgirl, and Krypto, plus reintroducing Lex Luthor and a host of other DC heroes and villains, there probably isn’t enough screentime to devote to yet another character.

Sean Gunn went on to explain Pedro Pascal’s version of Maxwell Lord existed in a “world that is very, very different from the world that we’re operating in” with James Gunn’s Superman movie.

Superman is out on July 11, 2025 and will give us our first look at Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord as James Gunn aims to restart the DCU in a big way.

James Gunn's Superman movie is out now - and we have a lot to say about it. You can also read about Superman's S-Shield through the ages, how Superman and Clark Kent keep their secret identity secret, our recs for best Superman comics, and how to watch all his TV series and movies in order.