One Of James Gunn's Superman Supporting Actors Has Played The Man Of Steel Himself

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

"Superman" features writer-director James Gunn's muse Nathan Fillion as the Justice Gang's self-appointed leader (and name decider), the hothead Green Lantern Guy Gardner. But you may have missed that the former Captain Reynolds isn't the only "Firefly" star in the movie.

Compared to previous "Superman" films, Gunn's picture features lots more of the casual sci-fi silliness of Silver Age "Superman" comics. Metropolis gets attacked by a kaiju, Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) has his own pocket dimension, and Superman's (David Corenswet) Fortress of Solitude has several robot attendants.

The robots have uniform designs, but also unique voices and numbers. The lead robot is #4, but by the end of the movie, he's taken a new name: "Gary." Gary is voiced by Alan Tudyk. Since his days playing the funny starship pilot Wash on "Firefly," Tudyk has become a prolific voice actor. Even before "Superman" he was already doing voiceover work in the new DC Universe. In Gunn's "Creature Commandos," Tudyk voiced Doctor Phosphorus and Clayface. Tudyk's voicework with DC didn't begin there, either.

In "Young Justice," Tudyk had two recurring roles: the hero Green Arrow and the sadistic villain Psimon. (He also had a one-line cameo as Captain Cold in the episode "Satisfaction.") Before "Creature Commandos," Tudyk similarly voiced a more comedic take on Clayface in the "Harley Quinn" series, in addition to lending his vocals to the show's version of the Joker. "Harley Quinn," in particular, is a semi-parody series, and Tudyk is perfectly cast as a Joker who's sadistic yet hilarious and petty.

A decade before appearing in "Superman," Tudyk even got to voice the big blue boy scout himself in the 2014 animated film "Justice League: War," the kick-off to a shared DC animated universe that ran for more than half a decade. Tudyk was replaced as Superman by Jerry O'Connell in later movies, but how does his take on the Man of Steel hold up?

In 2011, DC Comics rebooted its universe with the comic "Flashpoint" (by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert). In the "New 52" universe (named because all DC Comics were canceled and 52 new series started from issue #1), superheroes have been around for about five years. The DC universe was now home to younger, edgier heroes primed to be adapted in the forthcoming DC movies.

An architect of the initiative with "Flashpoint," Johns himself took up writing the new "Justice League" comic. His first arc, "Origin" (drawn by superstar artist Jim Lee), saw the team coming together at the beginning of that five year stretch to fight off an invasion by Darkseid. "Justice League: War" is a movie adaptation of "Origin" ... for mostly ill. Frankly, it's a bad film based on a pretty but shallow comic.

"Origin" is transparently Johns' pitch in comic form for a live-action "Justice League" movie, and it mostly worked. Several of Johns' ideas, like the League coming together to stop an invasion by Apokolips or Cyborg being one of the JL's founding members, made it into both cuts of the DC Extended Universe's "Justice League."

But the DCEU got plenty of flack for mischaracterizing its heroes and villains. Johns' comic, and by extension "Justice League: War," commits the same sins. The worst casualty is Darkseid himself, who is reduced into a generic alien invader. "I am entropy, I am death, I am Darkseid," he boasts, and he's 12 feet tall to make him extra scary.

But the whole point of Darkseid (as conceived by Jack Kirby) is that, god though he may be, he's ultimately a fallible and human evil. He's the God of Tyranny, remember, which is an evil that rests in men's hearts. Speaking of sapping the characterization, voiceover legend Steve Blum voices Darkseid in "Justice League: War," but the movie auto-tunes his voice to the point he barely gets to perform.

"Justice League: War" also turns Wonder Woman (Michelle Monaghan) into a caricature, a naive yet headstrong warrior who always pulls out her sword without thinking. Diana is supposed to be an ambassador of peace, remember. The one bright Wonder Woman spot in "War" is when Diana faces down some conservative protestors. One of them, bound by the Lasso of Truth, reveals he's a crossdresser. Instead of mocking him, Diana encourages him to live his truth.

Then there's Superman. Some additional context: One of the New 52 titles was an excellent run on "Action Comics" by Grant Morrison. Whereas the contemporary "Superman" comic was set in the "present," "Action Comics" was a prequel that took place during Superman's first days as a crimefighter. Morrison chose to write a Superman who sometimes punched first, acknowledging the way he was written by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster in the 1930s as an angry crusader against political injustices. Presumably to keep continuity with that (since "Origin" is set in the timeframe of "Action Comics"), Johns also wrote a headstrong Superman.

But "Justice League: War" goes too far. Batman (Jason O'Mara) and Green Lantern (Justin Kirk) try to track down Superman, assuming that, since he's an alien himself, he might have some familiarity with the alien invaders they've fought. However, Superman turns the tables and aggressively attacks them, so he comes across as an arrogant bully. There is a funny scene where Batman successively throws every gadget he has at a pursuing Superman; to say Superman "shrugs it off" would imply he even expended the energy necessary to shrug. But that sequence is only worth so much.

Alan Tudyk gives Superman a conceited and cocky voice, adding to that characterization. It fits the character as written, it's just not a Superman characterization I'm fond of. Tudyk's comedy chops could probably work for a bumbling everyman take on Clark Kent, too, but "War" doesn't do anything with Superman's double life. All-in-all, Jerry O'Connell was the better fit for Superman. (It helped that this Clark seriously lightened up after "War.")

While he hasn't reprised Superman since, Tudyk is currently voicing Optimus Prime on "Transformers: Earthspark." The Autobot leader is one of the most Superman-like heroes out there, being an all-loving alien who defends Earth and prefers the colors red and blue. Tudyk getting both of these roles when he's most famous as comic relief or bad guys is a testament to his range and prolificness as a voice actor.

"Superman" is now playing in theaters.