Nathan Fillion Thinks Guy Gardner Has “Brain Damage,” and His DC Comics Origin Explains Why

Guy Gardner is an abrasive, arrogant pain in the ass, but Nathan Fillion has put some thought into why the Green Lantern acts that way. His explanation involves childhood trauma, rejection and a nasty accident that changed Guy forever.

Fillion returned as Guy in Episode 6 ofLanternsafter previously introducing the character in Superman. While discussing the character with Variety, the actor explained how he pulled from Guy Gardner's DC Comics history to build his version of the character.

For Fillion, Guy's attitude comes from insecurity and a constant need to prove himself. “He was at one point passed up, the way he was raised, his relationship with his father wasn’t tremendous,” Fillion explained. “So he has this need to prove himself. He’s fearless in that way.”

That history helps explain why being Green Lantern means so much to Guy. The ring gives him status and validation, something Fillion's version of the character clearly enjoys flaunting.

There's another piece of Guy's comic book history that Fillion believes had an even bigger impact on his personality.

In the comics, Guy was struck by a bus while trying to save one of his students. The accident left him seriously injured and eventually put him into a coma. When Guy recovered, his personality had changed considerably.

Fillion has incorporated that history into his interpretation. “The coma is what flipped that switch for Guy Gardner,” Fillion said. “I think he has a little bit of brain damage.”

It certainly offers an interesting explanation for Fillion's wonderfully obnoxious take on the character. Guy is reckless, confrontational and extremely confident, sometimes to a ridiculous degree. Fillion sees those traits as part of a larger history rather than Guy simply being a jerk because it's funny.

Bringing that same personality into Lanterns presented another challenge. The HBO series has a much more grounded tone than Superman, and Fillion didn't want Guy to suddenly feel like a different character simply because his surroundings changed.

“I knew there was going to be a shift in tone. What I didn’t want was for there to be a shift in the character himself,” he said.

Fillion compared the idea to spending one weekend in Metropolis and another in Gotham. The circumstances might be completely different, but you're still the same person experiencing them.

That approach makes Guy an interesting character to carry between different corners of the DCU. He can be the loudmouth Green Lantern hanging around with Mister Terrific and Hawkgirl in Superman, then walk into the more serious world of Lanterns without losing what makes him entertaining.

Guy Gardner will return in James Gunn's Man of Tomorrow in 2027, where Fillion says audiences will get further into the Green Lantern side of the superhero community.

“It delves one club deeper than the rest of, let’s call them the Justice Gang,” Fillion teased. Fillion has also recorded Guy's voice for the animated Mister Miracle series, giving the character another place to pop up within Gunn's expanding DC Universe.

Guy Gardner may be obnoxious by design, but Fillion clearly isn't playing him as a one-note jerk. Between his difficult upbringing, being passed over and the comic book accident that Fillion believes left him with “a little bit of brain damage,” there's a reason this Green Lantern walks into every room acting like he owns the place.

He probably thinks he does.