James Gunn Says Superhero Movies Must Change to Stay Relevant
Writer-director James Gunn opens up about his concerns for the future of superhero movies and what needs to change for them to remain relevant. Gunn first began his career primarily as a writer for Troma Entertainment before venturing out into solo screenwriting with films such as Warner Bros' live-action Scooby-Doo movies and Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake. He would finally get his chance to shine in the director's chair with the 2006 horror-comedy Slither, which received rave reviews from critics but was a financial failure.
Gunn would begin revisiting the superhero genre with his second directorial effort on the Rainn Wilson-led Super before properly breaking out with the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Guardians of the Galaxy and its 2017 sequel. Though initially set to swiftly return for the MCU threequel, Gunn faced a setback as he was fired from the film due to controversial tweets resurfacing, only for Marvel and Disney to reverse their decision amidst criticism from the cast and public. Their efforts came a bit too late as Gunn signed on with WB to write and direct the DC Extended Universe's stand-alone follow-up The Suicide Squad and subsequently created, wrote and mostly directed its HBO Max spin-off Peacemaker.
As time grows nearer for the latest genre effort from the writer-director, Gunn spoke with The Irish Times to discuss The Suicide Squad and his thoughts on the future of the superhero genre. Believing the current state of the films to be concerning, Gunn compared the genre's trajectory to another that once reigned supreme in Hollywood and expressed his thoughts on what needs to happen to avoid the same fate. See what Gunn had to say below:
“We know about the way cowboy films went, and the way war films went. I don’t know, I think you don’t have to be a genius to put two and two together and see that there’s a cycle to those sorts of films, you know and that the only hope for the future of the comic book and superhero films is to change them up. They’re really dumb. And they’re mostly boring for me right now. I loved them at the beginning. I was really excited when they first started making those movies. It was about the visual effects when I saw Superman as a kid. I still love that movie. Okay, I know, that’s a guy on wires and bluescreen with this sort of crappy visual effects. And then when Iron Man came out, I was in. You’re able to make a guy fly around who looks like a guy flying around. And that was a beautiful thing to be able to do. But if the movies don’t change, it’s gonna get really, really boring."
Given his ongoing work in the genre, Gunn's criticisms of superhero films may seem a bit hypocritical to some, but who would know better about the lack of evolution than one currently in it. Additionally, since his work on Super, the writer/director has frequently shown an ability to break superhero genre conventions and deliver exciting efforts time and again. Gunn isn't the only one to express such concerns about the future of the genre, with the MCU having frequently been cited for feeling like too much of the same even with game-changers such as Black Panther and Loki.
Despite his concerns, the future clearly won't see the end of Gunn's reign in the superhero genre. With production set to begin on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 later this year as well as the holiday special in what is likely to be his final MCU outings, he's sure to go out on a high with the House of Mouse-owned studio. Until their arrivals in a couple of years, fans can look forward to The Suicide Squad's debut in theaters on August 5 and Peacemaker on HBO Max in January.
Source: The Irish Times