James Gunn, CEO of DC Studios, recently talked about the surprising appearance by Bradley Cooper as Jor-El, Superman’s Kryptonian father in his film Superman released on 11 July.
According to Deadline, Gunn revealed that, Cooper’s casting stemmed from their longstanding friendship and collaboration on the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, in which Cooper voiced Rocket Raccoon.
“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,” Gunn explained.
The director also shared that age played a great role in the casting decision, saying, “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.”
Gunn also added that Cooper took on the part as a personal favour, “He did it for me as a favor because he’s my friend, and I really appreciated him doing it.”
For those unversed, alongside Cooper, Superman features several cameos, including Will Reeve as a Reporter , John Cena as Peacemanker, Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord, Pom Klementieff, Michael Rooker as Superman robots, and Milly Alcock as Supergirl.
