James Gunn Says ‘superhero Fatigue’ Is A Real Thing: It Gets Really Boring
DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn recently opened up on the debate of audience getting Superhero Movie Fatigue. The filmmaker admitted it is a possibility that audiences are getting bored of the superhero projects, however, he was quick to point out it’s not the number of superhero projects but the type of stories being told that are causing the fatigue. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Gunn said, “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. 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 on screen, it gets really boring.”
Gunn cited his own contributions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the enormously popular Guardians of the Galaxy movies, as illustrations of what he hopes to achieve while working with DC Films. He wanted to create “a space opera” and “a family drama,” emphasising on the emotional bond between a bunch of outcasts, rather than delivering a typical superhero plot. Gunn claimed that Star Wars served as his inspiration, and that it similarly altered how the business produced blockbuster movies.
The biggest complaint about the current MCU revolves around how similar the films feel to one another and how the emphasis on spectacle over story has seriously hurt the MCU, particularly as Marvel’s VFX department has experienced numerous behind-the-scenes troubles.The biggest example of Marvel’s predicament is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which had the lowest box office earnings in the Ant-Man franchise despite all the hype leading up to its release.
On the work front, James Gunn will direct Superman: Legacy next, which will center on a Superman growing up in Smallville and Metropolis and learning how to be the human Clark Kent. He has made it clear that Superman is a “huge priority” in the universe he and Peter Safran are developing. Henry Cavill finally decided against returning to the Man of Steel role, in part because of the new path the DC Studios was taking with Superman.
