Nathan Fillion Talks About How The DCU Creative Team Decided On Green Lantern’s Hairstyle, And Explains Why He Was Always ‘Team Bowl Cut’

Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner in James Gunn's Superman movie
(Image credit: DC Studios)

After voicing Hal Jordan in various direct-to-video animated DC movies, including those within the DC Animated Movie Universe timeline, Nathan Fillion will soon be seen bringing another Green Lantern life. The Castle actor is appearing in James Gunn’s Superman as Guy Gardner, who was the second human to become a member of the Green Lantern Corps in the comics. Guy is also known for his brash personality and occasionally sporting a distinctive hairstyle. Regarding the latter, Fillion opened up about how the bowl cut was decided upon for the character’s DCU depiction.

Make no mistake, Fillion was very much “Team Bowl Cut” when the upcoming DC movie was being put together. He stated this while on the DC Studios Showcase Official Podcast, saying the following about what it was like figuring out what kind of wig he’d be wearing on Superman:

There was some talk about different hairstyles. There was some talk about some different types of things we were gonna go [with]. I was team bowl cut the whole way. It’s canon, it’s set. I said, ‘If we don’t do a bowl cut, we’re gonna hear about it.’

Although Guy Gardner has rocked other hairstyles in the comics, his bowl cut from the ‘80s, in particular from his time on the Justice League International, still stands out. So while it may not be the most fashionable look in the 2020s, Nathan Fillion was adamant that the bowl cut be selected, otherwise he feared that there’d be an outcry from fans. Evidently James Gunn, who also co-runs DC Studios, agreed with him, and thus another key DCU decision was made.

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However, as already stated, that’s not Fillion’s actual hair being seen in Superman. When Nathan Fillion was asked if he considered growing out his hair, he explained that his current gig on The Rookie prevented him from doing that:

Now, here’s the thing. I have another job, with a boss who’s kind enough to let me out for other projects. But I think he would draw the line [at] a bowl cut police officer.

Yeah, I have to agree with him on that. It would be incredibly off-putting for John Nolan to suddenly start arresting criminals with a bowl cut on The Rookie, and a blonde one at that. The wig was a better call, and we’ll be seeing plenty of it. After Superman’s release, Fillion will reprise Guy Gardner alongside Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl and Sean Gunn’s Maxwell Lord in Peacemaker Season 2, which premieres August 21 on Max. After that, Fillion’s Guy will be back for Lanterns, which is expected to arrive on HBO sometime in early 2026.

Superman flies onto the 2025 movies schedule on July 11. However, you don’t have to wait until then to dive into the DC Universe, as Creature Commandos Season 1 is streaming with a Max subscription.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.

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