Another year, another round of superhero movies underperforming at the box office and making even less of a cultural impact than the year before. Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four were great additions to the MCU, but people have to give them a chance to make a good impression.
Even my parents, who binged every Marvel movie two years ago and caught Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on opening weekend, decided to take a pass on Marvel’s latest. So imagine my surprise, when over our traditional Sunday breakfast, they asked me about Superman.
My parents raised a pair of nerds. My brother and I love comics and video games, but they were always more old-fashioned. I was raised on a steady diet of Nick at Nite reruns of Get Smart, I Love Lucy, The Bob Newhart Show, and The Drew Carey Show as appointment viewing in our house.
As for comics, they bought me Superman #75 (the death of Superman issue), a subscription to Uncanny X-Men just in time for the foil #300 and the “Fatal Attractions” arc, and put up with repeat viewings of “Pryde of the X-Men.” Superman was not on their radar until it landed on HBO Max, but it wasn’t because it was the launch of a new DC Universe; it was because they recognized the name of James Gunn.
Superman director James Gunn
To them, James Gunn was the man behind Guardians of the Galaxy, their favorite Marvel movies, because they were bright, colorful, off-the-wall, and looked like living comic books. The trauma of Vol. 3 was worth it at the end for the shot of Rocket leading the animals to freedom, the type of bonkers crowd-pleasing visual that Disney’s house style typically stays away from, but that Gunn embraces in every single one of his films.
The man is not perfect, he’s made creative decisions I’ve disagreed with, but hearing my parents explain why Superman looked interesting, and then comparing it to the disappointing box office success of Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts made me realize that with his revamp of DC, Gunn’s master plan might just work.
James Gunn’s Superman tastes the rainbow
After all, my parents want the comic book VFX spectacle in bright, primary colors, they want to see things they’ve never imagined would be on the big screen, and echoing the biggest criticism of Marvel these days, it can’t feel like homework. They did the homework, even watched Quantumania, but catching a film that stands on its own is especially appealing to them. I did have to explain that Superman introduces a lot of new heroes, and no, there’s no backstory to them right now, you get names and demonstrations of their powers without any explanations, and you just have to go with it.
Jame Gunn’s reimagining of Superman is a throwback to those early Marvel movies of Phase 1 where we were all discovering this new connected universe together, but unlike those movies, Gunn isn’t scared to toss absurd characters at the viewer, from Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl, to Metamorpho, a character that even as a fan of Justice League International I never thought would ever make it to live-action. Gunn’s plan to toss everything and the kitchen sink at viewers right out of the gate by skipping the origin stories and jumping straight into the action is the secret sauce that’s going to help combat superhero fatigue.
The Justice Gang in Superman (2025)
Superman was a success at the box office, but only because the bar had been lowered compared to its Marvel contemporaries, and every sign is pointing to the sequel, Man of Tomorrow, becoming a billion-dollar blockbuster. James Gunn’s unique approach that embraces the strangeness of characters like Guy Gardner and Metamorpho managed to turn a talking tree into a household name and an anthropomorphic raccoon into a merchandise machine, but it’s that very sense of being abnormal, different, and a few degrees off from mainstream heroes that makes them so appealing.
If Warner Bros. hadn’t handed Gunn complete creative control, there’s no way The Authority’s Engineer would be on screen, and Guy Gardner’s haircut would have never made it past the first test screening. Gunn isn’t always right, but he’s willing to take creative risks most major studio directors wouldn’t even entertain, and he knows how to send a crowd home happy.
Guy Gardner and that haircut in Superman (2025)
I never would have imagined that James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and now, Superman, would be what helped turn my parents into superhero fans. My Mom and Dad prefer Landman, Tulsa King, The Americans, and Columbo when left to their own devices, so I’m already excited for next year when I can take them to see Supergirl.
Who knew that it wasn’t really superhero fatigue? Instead, it was a need for superhero movies to break free of the mass marketing box Disney had shoved them into, which would finally get even non-comic book fans excited for capes and tights all over again.
And no, I’m not going to show them Peacemaker.
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