12 years ago, Man of Steel was released and ushered in the DC Extended Universe, the first attempt at forming a shared cinematic continuity pulling from DC Comics lore. Now the time has come for another Superman movie to help usher in another shared continuity, as there’s less than a month to go until James Gunn’s Superman introduces much of the world to the DC Universe. But with this new era also comes a segment of Zack Snyder fans voicing their displeasure that Snyder’s creative vision went unfinished, and I like what Gunn, who also co-runs DC Studios, had to say about this “opposing force” that’s not supporting the upcoming DC movie.
Snyder, of course, helmed Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and his original vision for Justice League was released in a four-hour form to Max subscription holders following the Joss Whedon-helmed theatrical cut from 2017. Rolling Stone brought up to James Gunn how some of Snyder’s fans are rooting against Superman, and here’s what he had to say:
I’m trying to think of how to say this best. I don’t mind it. I think it’s good. I think you don’t wanna have everybody root for you. And I have an actor who reads everything online. I won’t say who it is, but he’ll read this article, and he’ll know who it is. It’s one of the top five in Superman. And this actor gets so upset over things that people say. I said, ‘First of all, you realize that the trailer came out and [reaction] was 97, 98 percent positive. These people help us, because you don’t want everything to seem 100 percent positive.’
I suppose I can see where James Gunn is going with that perspective, as if there’s at least a minority who don’t approve of a trailer, preview, etc., then that can still inspire spirited debate and conversation among those who do. Whereas if everyone agrees on how it looked, then it gets boring exchanging the sam opinion back and forth. So Gunn is ok if not everyone is on board with Superman right now, although he did add that the criticism can sometimes get out of hand:
It’s all right to have an opposing force every once in a while. Some of the things get ridiculous — I just know that every time something comes out, it doesn’t matter how positively received, there’s gonna be something that is of great controversy. It was great controversy that the sun caused Superman pain.
The director is referring to the scene shown in the Krypto-centric Superman footage released back in April. In the scene, the injured Clark Kent/Kal-El is lifted up by four of the Fortress of Solitude’s robots and taken to a special chair and expose to a concentrated dose of yellow sunlight. Superman starts screaming in pain from this, but James Gunn confirmed the interviewer’s observation that this wasn’t because the sunlight was literally hurting him, but because his bones were being reset.
The time has long since passed for the possibility of Zack Snyder’s Justice League saga to continue, despite the unresolved plot threads from his version of the movie. Superman hits theaters on July 11, and if the movie is welcomed with positive critical reception and gets off to a good start at the box office, hopefully those Zack Snyder fans adamantly against the movie’s existence will come around and decide to give it a shot.
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