James Gunn Reveals Kevin Feige Contacted Him About His Vision for ‘Superman’ & the Character He Wants To See

James Gunn recently opened up about the inspirations behind Ultraman in his new Superman film. In an interview, Gunn shared that Ultraman’s design and character had many influences, including the classic comic villain Bizarro and even Nuclear Man from the 1987 movie Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

Gunn explained that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige actually reached out to him about this. “It’s funny, Kevin Feige wrote me yesterday. He says he hopes his old pal Bizarro… He wants to see Bizarro,” Gunn said with a laugh. Gunn agreed that Ultraman carried bits of Bizarro and Nuclear Man, but he described him as “this f****ed-up version of Clark.”

He also mentioned that there were originally sadder moments planned for Ultraman in the script. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I don’t know if you noticed… David’s got prosthetics on as Ultraman. He’s got a chin that’s jutting out, his ears poke out, he’s got one eye kind of going in a little direction. [Luthor] took him out of the oven a little too quickly or something.”

Talking about a specific scene where Ultraman falls back into the pocket universe, Gunn said that wasn’t directly inspired by Superman II, but he understood why some viewers made the connection. “I can see where you would see it. I didn’t think of it, but who knows? Those things all affect you. You don’t know where things come from.” He added that he liked thinking about “where he’s going and what he’s going to do next.”

Gunn’s Superman movie is the first film in the new DC Universe. It stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent, along with Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, and Isabela Merced. The film tells the story of Superman facing public backlash after getting involved in an international conflict caused by Lex Luthor. With help from Lois Lane and other heroes, he tries to win back people’s trust.

The film has been doing well with both audiences and critics. According to Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 421 critics gave it a positive review. Their summary says the film successfully balances creating a new world while keeping Superman’s human side at the center. On Metacritic, the movie has a score of 68 out of 100, which means generally favorable reviews. Some critics praised the movie’s colorful style and the performances of Corenswet and Brosnahan. Others thought the movie felt too busy.

Audiences seem to enjoy the movie even more. CinemaScore polls show that people gave it an average grade of A−, which is the same score Man of Steel received. PostTrak reported that 86% of viewers felt positive about the film, and 74% said they would definitely recommend it to others.

Overall, James Gunn’s new Superman film is being seen as a solid fresh start for the character, mixing classic elements with new ideas while staying focused on Superman’s humanity.

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