Before jumping ship to helmThe Suicide Squadand eventually oversee the entire DC Universe,James Gunndirected theMCU’s best and most consistent trilogy:Guardians of the Galaxy. The first two entries were major hits, but progress on the threequel was halted when old tweets byJames Gunn surfaced featuring homophobic jokes,and the director was canceled and fired from the project. After months of deliberation, Gunn was brought back by the studio to complete the trilogy, resulting in one of the best MCU movies in years inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. That might seem like a distant memory to some fans, especially with the gigantic updates to DC Studios, but James Gunn had it in the forefront of his mind while writing the DCU’s first movie:Superman.
During a recent interview with Rolling Stone to discuss the DCU’s flagship movie,Superman, James Gunn reflected on the time he spent at DC’s biggest rival, Marvel Studios, and when he was abruptly fired fromGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The director wasn’t salty about the situation. In fact, Gunn said that without that incident, he likely never would havetaken on a movie likeSuperman.“There’s no doubt that without that experience, I don’t think that I would’ve written theSupermanthat I wrote,” Gunn said.
Fans Finally Know the Reason “Legacy” Was Scrapped from ‘Superman’s Title
Honestly, it’s better without it.
While that doesn’t mean that Clark Kent gets canceled for posting controversial tweets on the Daily Planet’s X account in the film, the lessons Gunn learned from his firing led him to better understand “pure” characters like Superman. “I definitely wouldn’t be doing this job if I didn’t get fired, but I don’t know if I’d be doing this job even if it wasn’t for that. I just don’t think that a character that pure would’ve quite appealed to me.”
‘Superman’ Takes the Character Back to His “Pure” Roots
Superman often receives the unfair nickname among DC Comics readers as the Big Blue Boy Scout. As well as being incredibly overpowered, Superman also has an unbreakable moral compass in his fight for peace and justice. For decades, this defining characteristic was transferred to his big screen adaptations, withChristopher Reeves’ tenure as the characterbeing the key example. Brandon Routh’sSuperman Returnsalso held the character to a similar standard.
ButZack Snyder’sMan of Steeltook a different approach. Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent held a similar morality, minus his biggest rule: no killing. As well as featuring a far darker tone than any Superman film before it,Man of Steelbroke Superman’s big rule in its climactic finale. The rest of the DCEU stuck relatively closely to Snyder’s grittier tone, including its depictions of Superman.
But James Gunn’sSupermantakes the character back to his overwhelmingly positive roots. David Corenswet plays Clark Kent/Superman in the movie, and even wears the character’s iconic red trunks as a nod to his joyous persona.Supermanopens in theaters on July 11.
Source:Rolling Stone
