We all know that James Gunn loves to work with the same actors across his films, so when it comes to fan castings for the upcoming Superman: Legacy, it’s no surprise that people are looking to Gunn’s most recent success for some of the top picks.
Chukwudi Iwuji did a fantastic job portraying the cruel and egotistical High Evolutionary in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. In fact, he did such a great job that fans want to see him come back to play a villain in the DCU. But who exactly would the actor be best suited to play? Well, fans have the answer for that, too. One Redditor suggested that the actor be cast as the Superman villain, Brainiac, because it’s just the kind of role that plays to Iwuji’s strengths.
In fact, some already believe that Iwuji’s High Evolutionary was the perfect Brainiac, just in the MCU instead of the DCU. While many agreed Iwuji’s performance could easily put him in the running for the character, others thought that both characters were just too similar to have the same actor play them. It wouldn’t give Iwuji the chance to show off his range as an actor and would maybe be a little bit too predictable.
I agree with his performance being incredible. Bro dropped the hardest line in the MCU.
But I feel Brainiac would be too similar
The only thing I hated with Guardians 3 is the realization that Gunn had basically already done the perfect Braniac by doing such a bang up job with the High Evolutionary’s characterization. True the motives are a bit different but I don’t know if it can top that.
I hated how perfect the high evolutionary actually was. I can’t wait to see his Luthor though
he would be underutilized in that role, I’m afraid
In fairness, the actor definitely has too much range to play the same character twice. Although Brainiac and the High Evolutionary aren’t entirely the same, Iwuji could definitely hone in on the different aspects of the character to make him feel completely different. Some had better ideas for roles he could play in the DCU — maybe he’d be better suited as a hero as one fan suggested Martian Manhunter. He would make a great addition to the DCU, but he needs a more varied role if he were to appear in Superman: Legacy.
There’s also the possibility that Marvel might want to keep Iwuji close after Kang actor Jonathan Majors‘ public fall from grace recently. Some think that Iwuji’s villain might be revealed as a Kang variant. If that happens, he’s going to be pretty tied up in the MCU for the foreseeable future as he’ll have to carry the weight of being the new big bad for the whole Multiverse Saga.
All of this is also ignoring the fact that Iwuji has worked with Gunn in the DCU as a villain already. Everyone seems to have forgotten that he played Clemson Murn in the Peacemaker TV series.
Iwuji’s a fantastic actor, and it would be great to see him as another villain or hero in the DCU. But the cons of his potential appearance as Brainiac outweigh the pros. He’s finally getting some well-deserved mainstream recognition — now is the time for him to branch out, not put himself in a box.