‘Superman’ Star Isabela Merced Says DC Film “Is Very Loyal To The Comic Books But With A James Gunn Twist”
In a declaration that will probably draw more groans than applause, Superman star Isabela Merced says that while the upcoming DC film is apparently “very loyal” to the original comics, it still features a signature “James Gunn Twist”.
Merced, who is set to debut in the film as the new DCU’s incarnation of Hawkgirl, provided this insight into Gunn’s next cinematic outing while making an appearance on the August 15th episode of veteran entertainment reporter Josh Horowitz’s Happy, Sad, Confused podcast.
Asked if she could give her non-spoilery thoughts on the entire project, Merced opined, “It’s like the whole movie is very loyal to comic books, but with the James gun twist.”
[Time Stamp: 18:13]
“So I really think it’s funny, it’s clever but it’s heartwarming,” she beamed. “At least that was my experience on set. Obviously things can change in the editing room, but God, I loved it. James is so prepared. I could exhale on set, actually. I don’t even need to worry about exhaling after because James is one of those people who knows exactly what he wants, will stop at nothing to get it, has a shot list, communicates with his team – they all are prepared before they get there because they’ve worked with him for like what 20 plus years right? So when somebody’s that in charge and on it, you really have room to get excited and have faith in it and relax into the role. I think that was what was the loveliest part about that experience.”
Following a brief detour to discuss her time auditioning for the role of the Thanagarian warrior, Merced later returned to the topic of Superman‘s quality and asserted, “I mean, I’m excited for a thousand reasons in that film.”
“I mean, look, James doing Superman is exciting enough, but also we see it’s a giant ensemble too,” explained the actress. “It’s obviously a Superman story, it has to be a Superman story, but like he cast the hell out of Guardians and Suicide Squad. He knows how to serve the smaller roles.”
To this end, pressed by Horowtiz as to whether she felt like the film was both avoiding telling individual origin stories for and giving proper respect to each member of its large cast – including Merced’s Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific, and María Gabriela de Faría’s Engineer – the actress confidently opined, “Yes.”
“I think, at least, we know our place in this new universe that James is creating,” said Merced. “I think I learned more about my character each day. I think one of the days that was the most eye opening was seeing her room. I think the room was super revealing as to who she was. I didn’t even know how it was going to look. You have the comics to reference, and then maybe in the script it says ‘Interior: Hot Girl’s Room’, but that’s it. Then you see it, and it’s super informative and yeah – I think again James is trying to stay really loyal to the comics but also add his own twist to an extent.”
As their discussion regarding the upcoming DCU reboot came to a close, Horowitz ultimately pressed Merced as to her thoughts regarding David Corenswet as Superman.
In turn, the actress declared, “I think David himself is a very, in my opinion, a very Superman-like person.
“He has the patience of a Buddhist, he is super super kind and talks to everyone and babies love him, kids love him,” recalled Merced. So I think he will be a wonderful Superman.”
At current, Gunn’s Superman is on track to begin saving Metropolis on July 11th, 2025.
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