Long before he tackled Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, James Gunn was known for making films that were mostly lighthearted in nature. Slither, Super, and even the two critically-maligned Scooby-Doo movies included Gunn’s trademark sense of humor. Gunn’s various superhero projects have generally allowed him to keep things light and humorous as well. But now that he has his sights set on the most famous superhero of all, fans are curious to see if this trend will continue. As it turns out, the answer is a resounding “no.”
While speaking to Rolling Stone, Gunn discussed his work on both Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — which will serve as his MCU swan song when it opens in just a few weeks — and Superman: Legacy, which he recently signed on to direct after working on the screenplay for several months. And when asked how his Marvel work might inform his ongoing foray into the DC Universe, Gunn offered hints about how his upcoming Superman reboot will be different from his Guardians trilogy.
“I learned so much from making [Marvel] movies,” said Gunn. “But it’s not like Superman is going to have exactly the same vibe as a Guardians movie. It’s actually quite different.”
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Although he’s leaving the Marvel Universe behind him, Gunn still has nothing but high hopes for the franchise’s future. He also shared his thought on how to combat the idea of “superhero fatigue.”
“I really want Marvel to keep making good movies,” added Gunn. “I think it’s really hard in the wake of the Blip. There’s this worldwide, universe-wide event that happened. And in truth, everybody would be stark raving mad at this point. So it’s hard to write stories in the wake of that. Which is why the Guardians movies have been easier, because they’re set outside of that a little bit.”
“I get fatigued by most spectacle films, by the grind of not having an emotionally grounded story,” continued Gunn. “It doesn’t have anything to do with whether they’re superhero movies or not. If you don’t have a story at the base of it, just watching things bash each other, no matter how clever those bashing moments are, no matter how clever the designs and the VFX are, it just gets fatiguing, and I think that’s very, very real.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens on May 5, while Superman: Legacy will hit theaters on July 11, 2025.
Are you happy to hear that Gunn is approaching Superman in a way that’s different from his approach to Marvel’s Guardians series? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!
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