James Gunn Claims 'Superman' Film Is About "Kindness," And It Shows "Who Superman Is As A Person"
James Gunn revealed that his Superman movie is about kindness and that the fun of it is showing “Who Superman is as a person.”
This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
In an interview with Esquire Philippines, Gunn was asked, How do you make a movie about the greatest superhero? One that doesn’t just entertain but inspires?”
As part of his answer, he said, “The fun in the movie is getting to the bottom of who Superman is as a person in the middle of all of that. We kind of see more of Superman’s complex personality. The fact that he is-. His flaws. We see a little bit more.”
“Even though this is a very kind, very good Superman, we see he can be a little bit stubborn,” Gunn shared. “He can be a little bit impulsive in what his actions are. And he has got a really incredibly complex personality as does Lois [Lane]. So that means their interaction is triply complex because of that.”
He was also asked, “How do superheroes operate in a world of social media and fake news where everything they do can be misrepresented?”
Gunn replied, “Well, I think the thing is you can’t concern yourself with the people that are negative. I think Superman is kind of new to superheroing. He’s only been doing it for three years and we learn that occasionally he looks online and he reads what people are saying about him. And because he’s only been doing it for three years, it probably gets to him a little bit.”
“Me? I’ve been doing this for a long time. You can’t let that kind of stuff get to. I think that’s true of Superman and I think that’s true of me,” he finished.
Elsewhere in the interview, Gunn added, “I think that we live in a world with a lot of negativity. We live in a world with a lot of anger, a lot of mean discourse online. And I think that Superman is kindness. He represents kindness. And I think that’s such a simple thing.”
“I don’t think that when I was, you know, 12 years old I think I’d be making a movie about kindness because it’s in short supply, but hopefully that Superman inspires people to just be a little more kind to each other.”
READ: J.K. Rowling Reveals She's "Working Closely" With The Writers On HBO's Harry Potter TV Show
Gunn was also asked “Are you concerned about dropping audiences in the middle of a fully-formed world already filled with superheroes and villains?”
He answered, “No, not really because I’ve screened the movie for so many people and saw that people aren’t confused, you know? So, I know for fact that it’s not confusing. But I think that we’re used to seeing movies with protagonists and Superman is definitely the protagonist with Superman and he has his work friends and he has his play friends.”
“Now, I don’t know if the Justice Gang are his play friends or his work friends or if The Daily Planet are his play friends or his work friends, but that’s the two groups of his friends from different places. And just because they have insignias on their costumes or superpowers doesn’t mean they are not like any supporting character or in any movie. I think Oppenheimer has three times as many speaking roles as we do. I think people are fine,” he concluded.
What do you make of Gunn’s comments about Superman?
NEXT: Russell Crowe To Join Henry Cavill In 'Highlander' Reboot As Ramirez