DC Studios CEO James Gunn Shares Harsh Critique Of Current Superhero Movies: "They've Gotten Too Generic"

DC Studios CEO James Gunn Shares Harsh Critique Of Current Superhero Movies: "They've Gotten Too Generic"

Superman: Legacy director James Gunn has shared his honest thoughts on today's superhero movies, while also offering some insights into how DC Studios plans to approach storytelling in the new DCU...

News
By JoshWilding - Jun 27, 2023 06:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Superman: Legacy
Source: Inside Of You With Michael Rosenbaum

After helming Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker, it's fair to say filmmaker James Gunn has some serious credibility when it comes to comic book adaptations. 

Unfortunately, that's been questioned by some fans after he declared The Flash "one of the greatest superhero movies ever made," resulting in something of a rocky start to his tenure as DC Studios co-CEO alongside Peter Safran. 

During a recent interview on Michael Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast, Gunn shared his thoughts on where he believes many current superhero movies go wrong. He also stressed that Studios will be "very careful with the product that we put out and making sure everything is as good as it can possibly be."

"People have gotten really lazy with their superhero stories," Gunn added. "And they have gotten to the place where, ‘Oh, it’s a superhero, let’s make a movie about it.'"

"And then, ‘Oh, let’s make a sequel, because the first one did pretty well,’ and they aren’t thinking about, ‘Why is this story special? What makes this story stand apart from other stories? What is the story at the heart of it all? Why is this character important? What makes this story different that it fills a need for people in theaters to go see?'"

"People have gotten a little lazy and there’s a lot of biff, pow, bam stuff happening in movies and I’m watching third acts of superhero films where I really just don’t feel like there’s a rhyme or reason to what’s happening...I don’t care about the characters. And they’ve gotten too generic."

It's hard not to read this as a critique of Marvel Studios, particularly when they and Sony Pictures are the only ones outside of Warner Bros. making superhero movies on a consistent basis these days. Of course, Gunn now has the opportunity to put a new spin on the genre, something he strongly hinted will be the case by exploring it in a new light. 

"I like very serious superhero movies, and I like very comedic superhero movies," Gunn notes. "I like ones that are a murder mystery but it’s with superheroes. I like to see these different types of stories, as opposed to seeing the same story told over and over again."

Thus far, it's been confirmed that Gunn will write and direct Superman: Legacy, while James Mangold has been tapped to helm Swamp-Thing. Much to the surprise of many, The Flash's Andy Muschietti is going to return to the DC Universe to take charge of The Brave and the Bold. 

Superman: Legacy is set to be released in theaters on July 11. 2025.

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Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 6/27/2023, 6:52 AM
Capeshit was always pretty generic, it was the whole interconnected thing that was the draw.
bobevanz
bobevanz - 6/27/2023, 6:56 AM
Yep, cookie cutter indeed. On a better note.. today's the day!
massdeath
massdeath - 6/27/2023, 6:56 AM
“Superhero movies have gotten too generic. There’s no reason for their stories anymore. Now please go see Blue Beetle and Aquaman 2 so I can keep my job!”
Se4M4NSt4ine
Se4M4NSt4ine - 6/27/2023, 10:05 AM
@massdeath - I think Gunn and Safran have got a bulletproof vest on until Legacy comes out. Anything before their appointments is really just supporting the marketing - exactly what Gunn did to boost the Flash by blowing it up as this big thing, exactly what he should do as a studio exec for Blue Beetle and Aquaman 2.
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 6/27/2023, 11:07 AM
@Se4M4NSt4ine - Sure but one thing is saying "I think the Flash is a great movie and people will be excited about it", another is saying "it's the greatest CBM of all time", he just loses all credibility when saying that.
Saga
Saga - 6/27/2023, 11:22 AM
@massdeath - i don't think his Job depends on movies he didnt green lit
Se4M4NSt4ine
Se4M4NSt4ine - 6/27/2023, 12:24 PM
@Urubrodi - No really, he was just marketing a film. He can’t exactly come out and say it’s a terrible movie as the newly appointed executive, plus his resumé speaks for itself. He can talk the talk and walk the walk shall we say. We’re all still going to be sat in theatres watching Superman Legacy regardless of how bad Flash, Blue Beetle or Aquaman will be - especially you.
elcapitan
elcapitan - 6/27/2023, 1:34 PM
@Se4M4NSt4ine - you do realize that Peter Safran is a producer on both movies, as well as the Shazam movies. So I highly doubt the higher ups are ignoring that.

And to Josh, I think Gunn is also criticizing the DCEU slate not just MCU and Sony movies. If anything his criticism is at least as apt to those films as Sony’s.
iceballsreborn
iceballsreborn - 6/27/2023, 6:58 AM
wasnt suicide squad a lot of biff pow, whatever?

GOTG- the animal death porn- is that an interesting genre? his stuff is generic. his quippy 1 in 5 jokes are funny if youre lucky, shock with death and violence.

honestly this isnt the guy for supes. Mcquarrie, Mangold, reeves. we needed a grown up true filmaker to tell a story about an optimistic super hero in a modern age. gunn is a clown.
TempleRod
TempleRod - 6/27/2023, 7:37 AM
@iceballsreborn - LOL.
A clown that makes bank.
A clown that has only some of the three best movies in pitiful little MCU's discography.
This guy is a deliverer.

You're clowning yourself right now to disregard, how much he is going to nail Superman.
It's laughable. Big talk today, Big tails tomorrow.
iceballsreborn
iceballsreborn - 6/27/2023, 8:57 AM
@TempleRod - my point was regarding a quality superman movie not bank.

the fact that you think GOTG movies are the best movies in the MCU says much about you.

the fact you have so much conviction is weird to me. are you related to him? do his scucesses and failures efffect you that much. seriously if he screws up superman i wont be suprised. if he make an awesome movie- then that would be great. at this point, super hero movies are all pretty terrible.
TempleRod
TempleRod - 6/27/2023, 9:11 AM
@iceballsreborn - If you think 'super hero movies are all pretty terrible",
I don't even know why you inhabit a site like this.

OF COURSE, I have optimism for future movies. OF COURSE, I crave new ways of approaching these movies that haven't been done yet. All of us should have that, regardless of what comic books we read as a kid, or what movies we liked best in the last few years.

If you can't imagine something better coming, I don't even know why you would haunt sites like this. Even Marvel fans, I would hope they feel this about what's coming up. Fantastic Four, X-Men, Secret Wars, and so on.
I would hope everyone demands more from this genre. Conviction can be a good thing. Sometimes it's the only thing keeping us from mediocrity.

TempleRod
TempleRod - 6/27/2023, 9:14 AM
And most importantly, I believe Gunn has the same conviction in the job that lays before him.
I believe he will use Superman as another maturing point like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1 was before.

Like that movie really overcame a lot of problematic things about the man. But it still left him halfway. I am hoping Superman is enough of an inspiration to go ALL THE WAY.

To make a Universal Gunn movie. Time will tell, but I will keep being optimistic.
iceballsreborn
iceballsreborn - 6/27/2023, 9:22 AM
@TempleRod - are you actully James gunn talking about yourself?
TempleRod
TempleRod - 6/27/2023, 9:24 AM
@iceballsreborn - Har Har. That's so funny.
NO. Just a lot of us realize the value this man is going to bring to DC Films.
DarthAlgar
DarthAlgar - 6/27/2023, 9:44 AM
@iceballsreborn - And the fact you moronic Gen-Zers associate the term "clown" with anything you don't like is a true testament to your generations lack of wit and inability to think for yourselves.

You all just regurgitate words you read elsewhere on social media.

Monkey see monkey do. 😏
iceballsreborn
iceballsreborn - 6/27/2023, 10:02 AM
@DarthAlgar - heres the pattern of online warriors. i insult some random famous guy. and then you, who i have no connection to, insults me directly.

Im not Gen Z. im not close. but you assumed. so everything you said after that statement is really just a big pile of poop.
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 6/27/2023, 7:11 AM
That's what happens when your audiences keep hailing the least comicbooky movies as the best in the genre.

You know exactly what I'm referring to.
TempleRod
TempleRod - 6/27/2023, 7:38 AM
@DrReedRichards - The Flash is one of the most 'Comic booky' movies ever.

Pick a lane.
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 6/27/2023, 7:41 AM
@TempleRod -

Sure, if by "comic booky" you mean a studio executive's grasp on the concept, as in cameos galore with inconsistent rules, then yeah; it sure is an illiterate geezer's idea of "comic booky".

Troll better, or don't troll at all.
TempleRod
TempleRod - 6/27/2023, 7:44 AM
@DrReedRichards - I'm not trolling. I'm just saying it as it is.

I know that's probably hard for someone who lives in a bubble like you.
The Flash ACTUALLY IS one of the best comic book movies made in the last seven years.
OR SO.
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 6/27/2023, 7:46 AM
@TempleRod -

Have you ben living under a rock for the past seven years, or were you in a coma?
TempleRod
TempleRod - 6/27/2023, 7:48 AM
@DrReedRichards - That's not even a reply.
Maybe it's really you that is aping the generic qualities of the franchise you stan.

Because that's like third grade kind of reply.
You've fallen to some pretty sad lows, Doc.
Sad Lows indeed, even for a Shampoo Head such as yourself.
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 6/27/2023, 7:50 AM
@TempleRod -

I entertain earnest questions with earnest replies. I treat attention-seeking turds with simple atention.

Let's see what you'll do with it.
TempleRod
TempleRod - 6/27/2023, 7:53 AM
@DrReedRichards - Bro that's not my place.

I have no questions for you.
I only have statements.

If you aren't old enough to respond to others as equal human beings.
Well That's really not MY FAULT.
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 6/27/2023, 7:56 AM
@TempleRod -

I think it's been established by now who's the one treating others as sub-human and less than, CP. I'd say nice try projecting, but it wasn't really.
Moriakum
Moriakum - 6/27/2023, 7:56 AM
@TempleRod -

“When Flash posts great numbers”
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