Attending the SUPERMAN (and GUY GARDNER) Premiere in Hollywood
- Aug 14
- 3 min read
August 2025
So, it’s been a little over a month since the charming Hilarie and I were in Hollywood for the World Premiere of SUPERMAN, featuring GUY GARDNER. And I have just a few comments...
We enjoyed the SUPERMAN movie quite a bit. Of course, we were especially happy to see GUY GARDNER, the GREEN LANTERN who had been remade by Steve Englehart and me. GUY’s standout bowl haircut was still in place. And we were pleased to see that Steve and I were credited at the end of the movie.
A couple of personal notes about after the movie. Hollywood Blvd had been closed off for the Red Carpet, which was reserved for the people invited to the premiere. There was a long metal barrier lined with curious people on the other side. Hilarie and I left the theater and were walking down the carpet, when I thought I heard, “Hey Joe!” I didn’t expect that, but we stopped and looked back, checking out the crowd on the other side of the barrier. I had a big grin and I waved at the guy I am pretty sure I recognized. I knew him from cons. It may have been two guys, but definitely one and for sure I recognized him! I shouldn’t have been so surprised, after all, cons and movies overlap, especially at SUPERMAN. But I was surprised and pleased to be recognized!
Further down the street we had our passes taken and we went into the big ballroom area behind the El Capitan Theater. We made our way in, getting our bearings, and seeing if we could place anyone.
The actor Alan Tudyk was sitting quietly on a sofa with a lady, but without anyone talking to him. I have a real fondness for one of his projects, CON MAN, so I stopped in front of him and put out my hand to shake his.
He politely shook it as I said, “Mr. Tudyk, I want to thank you and congratulate you for CON MAN!” He looked up, definitely surprised and pleased. “It had the feel of truth.”
“It was the truth because I lived it,” he said.
“So did I!” I told him. He shook my hand again with an even bigger smile. We went on, and although I never introduced myself, I felt we’d made a connection with a shared experience. Hilarie commented that she’d had the same feeling.
CON MAN is a half hour, mostly comedy, which deals with being a guest at SF and comic cons. Those of us who appear at such cons share certain experiences. CON MAN wasn’t a huge series, but it was obviously a personal story for Alan and I think he realized that I understood what he wanted to share. There will be another season of CON MAN and I look forward to it.
Next we located actor Nathan Fillion, who played Guy so well. I asked to take a picture of him, but he took the camera and said he had longer arms and more experience taking selfies. He took a few shots, some including the charming Hilarie. When I told him I had designed Guy’s haircut, he responded, “So you’re the one?” and laughed.
I was fascinated by Rachel Brosnahan’s shining skin. Hilarie pointed out that Ms. B’s impressive dress was cut to
display of lot of that nice skin. Hilarie also thought her Lois Lane was outstanding, but her voice continued to evoke Mrs. Mazel for her.
Edi Gathegi (Mr. Terrific) was the standout presence of the movie, with a great action scene that actually got applause in the theater. At the party he was bounding around the room with a great smile for everybody…and everybody responded.
We spent time with DC writers and artists like Steve Englehart and Marv Wolfman, Dan Jurgens and Tom King, who gave input during the writing of the script.
DC VP Larry Ganem rounded up Steve Englehart, Marv Wolfman and me as the Green Lantern Team and we had a nice conversation with James Gunn. Around then a DC photographer appeared to take shots of this GL group, and Nathan Fillion joined us.
He looked at me and commented, “Didn’t I just get a photo with you?”
“Sure did,” I responded and added, “Now we must be old pals.”
So it was a fun night and we were pleased with the movie AND to be invited. Maybe next time we’ll walk the Red Carpet for the Guy Gardner spin-off.
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