James Gunn‘s “Superman” is set to launch an entire new DC Universe, but the writer-director is not feeling the kind of pressure one might think. Gunn, who is also the co-head of DC Studios with Peter Safran, recently told GQ magazine as part of a cover story for “Superman” star David Corenswet that his movie is “not the riskiest endeavor in the world” as some are painting it as.
“Is there something riding on it? Yeah, but it’s not as big as people make it out to be,” Gunn said. “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. It doesn’t need to be as big of a situation as people are saying.”
Since “Superman” is kick-starting a new DC Universe, which includes the already-filmed “Supergirl” movie and plans for new takes on Batman and Wonder Woman, Hollywood will be watching closely to see how the movie performs at the box office. The film, which carries a reported budget in the $200 million range, is arriving in theaters at a time when comic book movies are no longer box office certainties. Warner Bros.’ last DC Universe came to a thud with 2023 box office misfires “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” and “The Flash.” Marvel’s box office woes have continued into 2025 with “Captain America: Brave New World” flopping and even the well-reviewed “Thunderbolts*” losing millions of dollars at the box office.
Gunn spoke to Rolling Stone in 2023 and said that while “superhero fatigue” is definitely a real thing, it is not why comic book movies fail at the box office.
“I think there is such a thing as superhero fatigue. I think it doesn’t have anything to do with superheroes. It has to do with the kind of stories that get to be told, and if you lose your eye on the ball, which is character,” he said. “We love Superman. We love Batman. We love Iron Man. Because they’re these incredible characters that we have in our hearts. And if it becomes just a bunch of nonsense onscreen, it gets really boring.”
Gunn expanded on his thoughts during an interview on the “Inside of You” podcast, explaining: “People have gotten really lazy with their superhero stories. 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?’”
“Superman” opens in theaters July 11 from Warner Bros. and DC Studios.
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From Variety US