James Gunn has been one of the most prolific comic book filmmakers of the 21st century, but even he understands why people get bored of the genre.
In a new appearance on the “Inside of You” podcast, the newly minted DC Studios co-CEO explained how he hopes to avoid the franchise fatigue that has led to waning public interest in some superhero properties.
“We’re going to be very careful with the product that we put out and making sure everything is as good as it can possibly be,” Gunn said.
Gunn offered his diagnosis for what he sees as a decline in superhero movie quality, explaining that he thinks studios often push ahead with sequels and reboots before finding the narrative justification for the films.
“People have gotten really lazy with their superhero stories,” he said. “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?’”
Gunn added that he believes some recent movies have placed too much emphasis on spectacle at the expense of character.
“People have gotten a little lazy and there’s a lot of biff, pow, bam stuff happening in movies and I’m watching third acts of superhero films where I really just don’t feel like there’s a rhyme or reason to what’s happening,” he said. “I don’t care about the characters. And they’ve gotten too generic.”
This weekend’s box office is an indication of superhero fatigue, as non-Gunn DC title “The Flash” in its second weekend sunk in theaters while non-franchise movies thrived.
Gunn said that he hopes to combat the repetition by working a variety of genres into his DC Universe. His first slate will begin with 2025’s “Superman: Legacy” and include projects as varied as a “Swamp Thing” horror movie and a Green Lantern series said to be inspired by “True Detective.”
“I like very serious superhero movies, and I like very comedic superhero movies,” he said. “I like ones that are a murder mystery but it’s with superheroes. I like to see these different types of stories, as opposed to seeing the same story told over and over again.”
