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It's all down to personal taste, but Darkman, The Quick and the Dead, A Simple Plan, Spider-Man 1 & 2 and Drag me to Hell are all miles beyond anything Gunn has ever produced.

Gunn has always been kind of... there for me. In fact, his most interesting and memorable work is his Scooby Doo duology. Nothing else has clicked fully for me, despite the solidness of the Guardians trilogy.
Man, I have never felt a single actual emotion during a Raimi movie. I like the Spidey movies a lot but they’re straight comedies for me and I actively dislike Darkman, hate Drag me to Hell and honestly even the Evil Dead sequels get tiresome for me pretty quick.

He’s sort of the embodiment of a pure style over substance director, IMO. Generally in a bad way.
 
Man, I have never felt a single actual emotion during a Raimi movie. I like the Spidey movies a lot but they’re straight comedies for me and I actively dislike Darkman, hate Drag me to Hell and honestly even the Evil Dead sequels get tiresome for me pretty quick.

He’s sort of the embodiment of a pure style over substance director, IMO. Generally in a bad way.

I get that. His movies never worry too much about emotional depth (well his Spider-Man movies I would fight for - the scene with Uncle Ben in 2 is very powerful to me).

Maybe it's just Gunn's style in general that leaves me cold. I'm rooting for Superman: Legacy, but I definitely think there are better candidates for the director job.
 
Maybe it's just Gunn's style in general that leaves me cold. I'm rooting for Superman: Legacy, but I definitely think there are better candidates for the director job.

Not going to lie, Gunn scares the hell out of me when it comes to directing Superman. He obviously has a pulse on what the general audience is drawn to in superhero films (judging by the obvious GotG trilogy success) but Superman is another beast entirely, as we all know.

Gunn is a good writer and idea/creative mind, but the previous documentation of having the opportunity to helm Superman just a few years ago and then turning the character down out of pure lack of interest does concern me. He seemed to be on the fence about directing Legacy even after the announcement of the DCU was made (Safran kept that pressure on) so there seemed to be a sense of pushback from Gunn.

It's not surprising givin how Gunn's expertise are characters he can go bonkers with (C-D listers), and it feels like Superman was a mandate from Zaslav right out of the gates and may be a handshake of "I'll do Superman if I can do obscure properties like Creature Commandos and The Authority".

Nonetheless, I respect Gunn for stepping up and swinging out of the gates with Superman. Takes balls in the midst of studio turmoil and brand damage control. That is both exciting and downright frightening as a Superman fan. If Gunn's Superman missfires, I fear for the overall health of the cinematic Superman, which I so desperately want to see succeed.

Though I have this ill and irritating feeling for the studio in how they wrongfully handled Henry, the potential casting of David Corenswet pulls me right back in. If confirmed, they are 1 for 1 in decision making, so it starts with casting.
 
I get that. His movies never worry too much about emotional depth (well his Spider-Man movies I would fight for - the scene with Uncle Ben in 2 is very powerful to me).

Maybe it's just Gunn's style in general that leaves me cold. I'm rooting for Superman: Legacy, but I definitely think there are better candidates for the director job.

Thats natural, sometimes people just dont vibe with certain Artists styles etc.
Im not too fond with Christopher Nolans style of Film making, doesnt mean i think he is bad or so...just that his style is not really working for me.
Same with Zack Snyder while Tim Burtons style is just working for me.

So its natural to be not sold on someone and thinking that someone else would fit better.
 
Thats natural, sometimes people just dont vibe with certain Artists styles etc.
Im not too fond with Christopher Nolans style of Film making, doesnt mean i think he is bad or so...just that his style is not really working for me.
Same with Zack Snyder while Tim Burtons style is just working for me.

So its natural to be not sold on someone and thinking that someone else would fit better.

Gunn is in a good, but perplexing spot. He is going from bottom of the barrel characters that can be positioned any which way he could see fit without the audience knowing any better, to the most iconic and controversial one of them all.

It's JG's job to prove it. He simply has to do just that. Make a great Superman film. Not middling, not good. GREAT. If he pulls it off, he will shoot up the ranks as someone who has done the near impossible.

If he missfires? He'll simply go back to directing lesser known characters where he knows he got a pretty strong thumb on.
 
Nonetheless, I respect Gunn for stepping up and swinging out of the gates with Superman. Takes balls in the midst of studio turmoil and brand damage control. That is both exciting and downright frightening as a Superman fan. If Gunn's Superman missfires, I fear for the overall health of the cinematic Superman, which I so desperately want to see succeed.

Which is why I don't envy the position he's in right now. If Superman Legacy is a bust and doesn't land with audiences, you might as well wrap up the DCU right there and then. As much as I love Man of Steel, the same could be said there, given that film's mixed reception. But I think there was enough interest in that new take on Superman that people wanted to see more.

Okay, me saying to 'wrap up' the DCU if Superman doesn't land is a bit hyperbolic, but Gunn is putting immense pressure on himself with taking on Superman. All the more reason I feel that Legacy may be a good film, but albeit a safe one. I'd love to be wrong, though. I don't expect Legacy to fundamentally change superhero films- Gunn just needs a solid movie.
 
I re-read What’s So Funny About Truth Justice and the American Way yesterday and was reminded why the decisions that were made in the last 40 minutes of Man of Steel destroyed the DCU out of the gate.

Really? Haven't read that in years what is your take?

And I think it's pretty clear Legacy will be safe. MOS tried some it another way and the audience was divided. If Legacy goes more classic you will alienate some fans but the majority will be more receptive.
 
I'm actually very ok and comfortable with Gunn directing.
He casts good actors in his films, he has good scripts, and has very good storylines.

Nothing Gunn has said so far about legacy worries me.
I can't say the same when singer and snyder directed their Superman films.
Both were saying stuff early on that made my worry alarm go off.

So until he proves it otherwise, I think Gunn will nail Superman. If he starts using words like "re-imagine" or "a superman for modern audiences" then I'll worry.

I doubt we see any superkids in his film, or superstalker man, or a dark and brooding superman, or any awful "why did you say that name"lines.

And, I think the supersuit will be as close to classic as it can possibly be.
And I think we will finally be getting the Lex that most of us have been begging for.
 
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Not going to lie, Gunn scares the hell out of me when it comes to directing Superman. He obviously has a pulse on what the general audience is drawn to in superhero films (judging by the obvious GotG trilogy success) but Superman is another beast entirely, as we all know.

Gunn is a good writer and idea/creative mind, but the previous documentation of having the opportunity to helm Superman just a few years ago and then turning the character down out of pure lack of interest does concern me. He seemed to be on the fence about directing Legacy even after the announcement of the DCU was made (Safran kept that pressure on) so there seemed to be a sense of pushback from Gunn.

It's not surprising givin how Gunn's expertise are characters he can go bonkers with (C-D listers), and it feels like Superman was a mandate from Zaslav right out of the gates and may be a handshake of "I'll do Superman if I can do obscure properties like Creature Commandos and The Authority".

Nonetheless, I respect Gunn for stepping up and swinging out of the gates with Superman. Takes balls in the midst of studio turmoil and brand damage control. That is both exciting and downright frightening as a Superman fan. If Gunn's Superman missfires, I fear for the overall health of the cinematic Superman, which I so desperately want to see succeed.

Though I have this ill and irritating feeling for the studio in how they wrongfully handled Henry, the potential casting of David Corenswet pulls me right back in. If confirmed, they are 1 for 1 in decision making, so it starts with casting.

Aren't you a Snyder/DCEU Superman fan?

I can't see Gunn doing more damage to cinematic Superman than Snyder has.
 
Gunn knows how to put emotions into his works so assuming he can avoid his signature juvenile humor it'll be fine.
As you say, he’s great at putting in genuinely emotional moments into juvenile crude comedies where you least expect it. Every Guardians film had at least one moment of that. That bodes well for Superman where it is certainly important. I doubt there’s much chance of juvenile humour in Superman, Gunn surely has the awareness to avoid it with a property like that.
 
This is currently the overall health of the cinematic Superman:

dead-tired.gif


We can only go up from here.
 
Didn’t Gunn say something specifically about it not being a comedy, or am I tripping?
 
Didn’t Gunn say something specifically about it not being a comedy, or am I tripping?
It better not be a comedy! I mean have natural comedy in it sure, but I would hope it not being an actual comedy wouldn’t even need to be said.
 
Didn’t Gunn say something specifically about it not being a comedy, or am I tripping?

“It’s easier to take a character nobody knows, like the Guardians, or Peacemaker, and then do whatever you want with them,” says Gunn. “People in every single country in the world know the story of Superman.” It’s one reason he turned down a Superman film in 2018 — he didn’t have a take. Now, he says he does.

“How can I make it different from the Superman movies that have been made so far, but also have it respect all the Superman movies that have been made so far?” he asks. “So it just took me some time to try to figure it out.” The movie won’t be a comedy, he says, and it’s not like he’s going to make Superman one of the quirky characters he is famous for. Gunn is intent on making a sincere superhero movie.

How Guardians of the Galaxy’s Chris Pratt and Cast Saved James Gunn – The Hollywood Reporter
 
Gunn certainly SAYS all the things I want to hear about his approach to Superman. My big question mark is, since it’s so far outside his usual wheelhouse, can he actually pull it off? And I will continue to have doubts about that until I see the movie, I’m sure.
 
See I don't think it's totally outside of his wheelhouse, almost all of his movies have that human element where it is serious and where they don't play it up for laughs. Just look at GoTG3 with Rocket, or these:







 
The thing is that Gunn can’t take risks or “misbehave” on this film. It’s his neck on the line.

It’s not like you’ve got a director who is going against the studio.
Good point. Can't be a rebel here - he is the teacher in this scenario, not the student.
 
I'm a teacher... they can't afford to not let me rebel ;)
 

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