James Gunn Shares Three Things He Never Wants to See Again in a Superhero Movie

Superman’s origin has been told many times, starting as a baby sent from Krypton and growing into a powerful hero. This story is familiar, just like Batman’s tragic loss of his parents or Spider-Man getting bitten by a radioactive spider.

But James Gunn, the new co-chairman and CEO of DC Studios, wants to take a fresh approach with his upcoming Superman movie.

Gunn shared in an interview with The Times that he doesn’t feel the need to repeat certain parts of superhero stories. “There are three things I don’t ever need to see again in a superhero movie,” he said. “I don’t need to see pearls in a back alley when Batman’s parents are killed. I don’t need to see the radioactive spider biting Spider-Man. And I don’t need to see baby Kal coming from Krypton in a little baby rocket.”

He also explained that sometimes it’s fine to jump straight into the story without going over every detail of a character’s past. “We have watched a million movies with characters who don’t have their upbringing explained… Who cares?”

Unlike many other versions, Gunn’s Superman story won’t focus on his origins or how he got his powers. Instead, the film starts with Superman already established as a hero. The world has known about metahumans like him for hundreds of years.

To help viewers understand this new timeline, the movie opens with a Star Wars-style crawl to explain the backstory quickly.

Gunn also talked about the upcoming Batman movie, The Brave and the Bold. He said it will focus on a Batman who already has experience as a crimefighter, rather than showing the early years like other films have.

This means there won’t be any flashbacks of Bruce Wayne’s parents being killed. Gunn said, “We just start in the middle of the action… Superman already exists. Lois and Clark already know each other. Lex hates Superman’s guts from the beginning, although they don’t know each other personally.” The story happens over a short time and throws the audience right into the middle of everything.

The new Superman movie stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. The cast also includes Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, and Isabela Merced. The film is set to be released in theaters on July 11.

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