James Gunn Mercilessly Roasts Superhero Movies, Exposes Their Biggest Flaw
According to the filmmaker, creators have become lazy in their approach to such films.
After the recent disastrous release of The Flash, the poor state of superhero movies, especially those within the DCU, has become even more apparent.
Of the five released since the beginning of the year, only two can be considered successful, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the latter of which is neither a live-action film nor part of the DCU or MCU.
And while Marvel continues to be relatively successful in recent years, albeit receiving its fair share of criticism, DC is currently in a much more dire situation that requires some drastic and immediate measures.
Hopefully, it is only a matter of time before they are finally implemented, as James Gunn, who will be responsible for the upcoming reboot of the cinematic universe, recently pointed out what he believes to be the biggest problem with the latest superhero movies.
Speaking on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, the filmmaker said that "people have gotten really lazy with their superhero stories," resulting in them becoming extremely formulaic and uninspiring.
According to Gunn, they don't think about "what is the story at the heart of it all" and what exactly makes it special and different from countless others.
Everything has become too generic, which is especially evident in the third acts of such movies, as it no longer feels "like there's a rhyme or reason to what's happening."
Fans seem to be split on his words, as some find it incredibly hypocritical to say this after he himself praised The Flash, which is about as uninspired as superhero movies get.
Others, however, say that he is probably obligated to say positive things about the DCU movies since he is now the head of the cinematic universe.
According to them, Gunn is not wrong, as his Guardians of the Galaxy movies were quite different from each other and many other MCU films, had their own stories to tell and provided a fantastic conclusion to the trilogy.
Regardless of your opinion, only time will tell if James will finally bring a long overdue creative shake-up to the DCU. Either way, we will not see the results of his actions until the final film of the "old" cinematic universe, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, is released, which is scheduled for December 20, 2023.
Sources: Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, Reddit