James Gunn, writer-director of the upcoming Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, has strongly denied a recent casting report linking three major stars to a role in the film. The report, published by Deadline, claimed that Ella Purnell, Adria Arjona and Marisa Abela were testing for the role of Maxima. However, Gunn quickly refuted the claims on Threads, leading to Deadline updating its story.
Gunn wrote: "Deadline's reporting is shoddy & incorrect. I've always thought Deadline was pretty thorough in their journalism but that's not the case here so I'm frankly disappointed. If someone would have run these names by us we would have said it's bullshit." He added that he has been friends with Arjona since casting her in The Belko Experiment, but has never met Purnell or Abela.
Following Gunn's post, Deadline removed Purnell and Abela's names from the report, but Arjona remains linked alongside new names Grace Van Patten, Sydney Chandler and Eva De Dominici. Deadline added a statement: "Deadline went through its normal editorial process in the newsgathering for this story. After a review in light of new information regarding the actors involved, the story has been updated."
Gunn also noted that he has not confirmed the role left to cast is Maxima, sparking speculation that Arjona could be playing Wonder Woman. The sequel stars David Corenswet as Superman, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Aaron Pierre as John Stewart and Lars Eidinger as Brainiac.
