WARNING: This article includes MAJOR SPOILERS from the Superman movie.James Gunn explains one of the big DC Universe casting cameos in his Superman movie. One of the biggest cameos in the Superman movie was the DCU debut of Jor-El, played by one of Gunn’s longest collaborators from the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, after the director’s time with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While brief, Bradley Cooper appeared as Kal-El’s biological father, as he and Lara can be seen through the message that they sent with the Man of Steel when Krypton was destroyed. Despite speaking in Kryptonese, Cooper’s Jor-El cameos were one of the more discussed aspects of the Superman cameos.

In a new interview with ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, Gunn addressed how he wanted to handle Jor-El for his Superman movie, addressing how age played a factor for the big superhero installment. Gunn explained he wanted the DCU to have a Jor-El that “wasn’t too old“, as well as wanting the character to be played by someone who would bring a similar energy to Marlon Brando:

Well, Bradley’s a friend of mine, and I needed somebody who could play Jor-El — and I don’t think this is a spoiler, everybody knows about this — who had the stature of what we imagine that character being, somebody who could walk in the footsteps of Marlon Brando. A lot of times, Jor-El is played by a 70-year-old man and that means he was 70 when he had a baby, so I wanted somebody that wasn’t too old. Everyone was bringing up all these actors that were too old for me. I think Bradley was perfect, he did it for me as a favor because he’s my friend, and I really appreciated him doing it.

What James Gunn’s Comments Mean For The Superman Cameo

While there have been numerous takes on Jor-El in past Superman movies and TV shows, Gunn’s comments make sense in that, most of the time, they tend to portray Clark’s Kryptonian father as older. Many Superman adaptations also have Jor-El appear more throughout their respective stories, meaning Gunn’s Superman movie once again takes a different approach here.

Casting someone who’s known as a prominent movie superhero – namely the MCU’s Rocket Raccoon – also makes sense in terms of ensuring the plot twist about why Jor-El and Lara sent Superman to Earth was as potent as possible. It also leaves the door open for Jor-El to potentially even return in some capacity, since Cooper and Gunn are long-time movie collaborators.

Our Take On James Gunn’s Jor-El Comments

Gunn’s comments about casting Cooper both make sense, and also set up a very unique role for Jor-El in the DCU franchise, who could prove interesting once more if they end up bringing him back somehow. Even though none of the Superman movie post-credits scenes left with any teases for Jor-El and Lara, the DCU is just getting started.

With Superman’s emerging success, future installments could lean into the House of El twist with why they sent Kal-El to Earth, and with someone as big as Cooper now playing Jor-El, seeing him actually get to act alongside Corenswet’s DC hero would be interesting. But until a sequel is greenlit, fans can catch Superman in theaters and relive Gunn’s take on the DC legend once again.

Source: ᴅᴇᴀᴅline