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Guy Gardner = Golden Girls! Superman co-star Nathan Fillion reveals how he was inspired by both Green Lantern comics and Sophia Petrillo

Both Nathan Fillion and Estelle Getty relied heavily on wigs to transform them into their roles, though Guy Gardner's hair is somehow more ridiculous.

There are certain characters we always knew were going to be in James Gunn’s Superman movie this summer. The Man of Steel himself, obviously. Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen were going to make an appearance, as was Lex Luthor. However, until we saw the casting of Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, no one would have thought they’d throw a Green Lantern into a Superman movie. Fillion has said he wanted to pull from the character’s long comic book history for his on-screen portrayal, though he threw in a little Golden Girls for inspiration as well.

You read that right. Nathan Fillion revealed on a DC Studios Showcase podcast that Sophia, the Golden Girl without a filter who was played by Estelle Getty, was a big influence on how he played the most endearing asshole of the Green Lantern Corps. “You know, I took my inspiration from the oldest cast member from the Golden Girls, where she just, whatever she wanted to say, just, there was no filter.”

It is pretty easy to see how that might seep into Guy Gardner, but Fillion drew on Gardner’s comic book origins as well. “Just whatever it is, there it is, he’s just gonna say it. Part of his origin was he was at one point hit by a bus and was in a coma. So, I just say that’s the thing that flipped the switch. That’s the thing that caused a little bit of brain damage. Now he’s just… off a little bit.”

The age-related lack of a filter might have come easy to Fillion, who, at 54 years old, is only eight years younger than Estelle Getty was when Golden Girls started. This is because Getty was actually the youngest member of the cast at the time and had to wear heavy make-up and wigs to make herself look older than she was. Just like Nathan Fillion is going to wear a ridiculous bowl-cut wig to make himself look like the Green Lantern no one has ever heard of.


James Gunn's Superman is flying into theaters soon enough, and Popverse has all you need to prepare. Refreshing your cinematic memory with our Superman movie watch order, learn what we know about the upcoming Superman movie, Superman's S-Shield through the ages, and read about what DC is doing ahead of their flagship hero's triumphant return.

Trent Cannon

Trent Cannon: Trent is a freelance writer who has been covering anime, video games, and pop culture for a decade. (He/Him)

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