James Gunn has recently shared his honest take on a new DC movie, Superman.
While speaking to Deadline at the world premiere on July 7, the writer and director discussed his “lighter” approach to the DC Comics superhero that gets back to “the colour and the joy” of his origins.
“In some ways, it’s lighter. But there’s a lot of heavy stuff in the movie as well,” said the 58-year-old.
James had concerns over Zack Snyder‘s courageous take on the role in Man of Steel (2013), Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017).
However, the new CEO of DC Studios believed that the “character himself is lighter”.
James noted that Superman, who’s also called Clark Kent, “is from a non-dysfunctional family, he has parents who love him, he’s growing up in a loving household with support and emotional presence from his parents, and he’s the result of that.
“And I think that he’s a pretty well-adjusted guy because of that. However, he has his flaws as well,” mentioned the movie-maker.
Interestingly, James admitted he “loved the colour and the joy of the comic books I loved growing up, and I wanted to imbue this movie with that feeling”.
In a separate interview with GQ magazine, the director addressed speculation that Superman has to be a box office blockbuster.
The writer/director, who is also the co-head of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran, opened up that the franchise “tentpole movie never carried as much pressure at the studio as critics believed.
“They hear these numbers that the movie’s only going to be successful if it makes $700 million or something and it’s just complete and utter nonsense,” stated James.
He added, “It doesn’t need to be as big of a situation as people are saying.”
Meanwhile, Superman will release in theatres on July 11.