NEED TO KNOW
- James Gunn has a message for those who consider some of the messages in his new Superman movie to be “offensive”
- “Screw them,” the director told The Times
- “Superman is the story of America,” he also said, in the sense that it follows “an immigrant that came from other places and populated the country”
James Gunn has a very direct message to those who take offense to some of the higher-level themes in his new Superman movie.
The 58-year-old director said in a new interview with The Times, published Friday, July 4, that the David Corenswet-led film is “about politics” and added, “But on another level it’s about morality.”
“Do you never kill no matter what — which is what Superman believes — or do you have some balance, as Lois [Lane, played by Rachel Brosnahan] believes?” Gunn said. “It’s really about their relationship and the way different opinions on basic moral beliefs can tear two people apart.”
The filmmaker explained that, in general, “Superman is the story of America,” in the sense that it follows “an immigrant that came from other places and populated the country.”
“But for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost,” Gunn continued.
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Rachel Brosnahan and David Corenswet in Superman (2025)
Superman is also, he said, “about human kindness and obviously there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness.”
“But screw them,” Gunn added.
Coming nearly 50 years after the iconic 1978 Superman film starring Christopher Reeve, Gunn’s Superman sees Corenswet, 31, as the Man of Steel, with Brosnahan, 34, as journalist and Superman’s love interest Lois Lane.
The rest of the cast includes Nicholas Hoult as villain Lex Luthor, plus Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Milly Alcock as Supergirl, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl and Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern.
In his conversation with The Times, Gunn said that his version of the film “does seem to come at a particular time when people are feeling a loss of hope in other people’s goodness.”
“I’m telling a story about a guy who is uniquely good, and that feels needed now because there is a meanness that has emerged due to cultural figures being mean online,” he added. “And I include myself in this.”
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The director continued to note that “It is ad infinitum, millions of people having tantrums online. How are we supposed to get anywhere as a culture? We don’t know what’s real, and that is a really difficult place for the human brain to be.”
“If I could press a button to make the internet disappear I’d consider it,” Gunn admitted. “And, no, I don’t make films to change the world, but if a few people could be just a bit nicer after this it would make me happy.”
Superman flies into theaters Friday, July 11.
Read the original article on People
