Argylle director Matthew Vaughn wonders whether James Gunn and Peter Safran should be making casting calls for films they aren’t directing.
In a few years’ time, we hope James Gunn gets to look back at his new-look DC Universe without regrets over the creative choices behind his shared universe of superheroes. Given that Gunn has put out three wonderful Guardians Of The Galaxy films for Marvel Studios, you’d think that might be enough to earn him some credit with fans. Instead, Gunn is finding his every decision questioned and disseminated.
It’s the casting of Milly Alcock as Supergirl which currently has the internet debating Gunn’s taste. His comments regarding her being perfect for the role have sparked something of an online response from fans of Sasha Calle’s take on the character from 2023’s The Flash. We suppose that’s standard operating procedure for online discourse, but interestingly, Matthew Vaughn has also popped up to criticise the decision, albeit from a different perspective from those aforementioned fans.
Speaking on BroBible’s Post-Credit podcast (which comes to us via Variety) Vaughn expressed some confusion about the process of casting Alcock before the film has found its director.
“I’m a huge fan of Milly Alcock. Huge fan,” Vaughn said. “Met with her for this other project we’re working on – she turned me down, which was sad. She’s a fabulous actress. Then again, I do find it very weird that they haven’t got a director. That surprised me, because you shouldn’t cast a movie – the director should be casting the movie. I don’t understand who cast it if there isn’t a director.”
Read more: Argylle review | Matthew Vaughn’s film is sometimes dumb fun, mostly just dumb
We know that The Vampire Diaries’ Ana Nogueira is writing the script for Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow but as it stands, nobody is yet in place to helm the film. Rumours suggest that the announcement of a director isn’t too far away, but Vaughn still seems surprised that Gunn and Safran are making casting decisions.
Given that Gunn has elected to direct the first film in the DCU, next year’s Superman: Legacy, perhaps Vaughn shouldn’t be too surprised. It looks like Gunn is intent on exerting a fair amount of creative control over the shared universe and filmmakers who want to be part of it are going to have to accept that.
Of course, it does mean that Superman: Legacy is going to have to land for Gunn. We hope it does too, just to give the guy a break from the world questioning every choice he makes. As for Vaughn, he’s expressed an interest in directing the Supergirl film himself, adding that he’s “a Superman nut.” Then again, he’s clearly a comic book fan in general, having directed X-Men: First Class and praised Deadpool 3 – a film he says will 'save the Marvel Universe’ – in the same BroBible podcast.
We’ll let you know the identity of the Supergirl film’s director when we hear it.
Variety
