James Gunn says Superman is his "first superhero movie" because the Guardians of the Galaxy "were space adventurers, they weren't really superheroes"

David Corenswet as Superman — (Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Superman might not just be the first DCU movie – according to director James Gunn, it's also his first superhero movie full stop.

Gunn of course helmed all three Guardians of the Galaxy movies (and the Holiday Special) for Marvel, and his first foray into DC was in 2021 with The Suicide Squad.

"So I think that, really, in a lot of ways, this is my first superhero movie, because even the Suicide Squad were supervillains," he adds. "So that brought in a bunch of challenges in itself. Because superheroes, everything I do comes from a place of, 'Well, what if this was real?' You know, if I started telling the story of Rocket Raccoon, 'What if Rocket Raccoon was real? How would he exist? Where would he come from?' And with this, 'What if Superman was real? What are his beliefs? What is his relationship with his girlfriend like? What is his relationship to the government like?' So it really was coming from that place."

David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Skyler Gisondo in Superman — (Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Superman also makes use of the hero's storied comic book history, even including some serious deep cuts like Clark Kent's hypno glasses – which, Gunn explains, originate from the same line of thinking.

"It comes from the place of, what if Superman was real?" he says. "Like for me, even as a little kid, I'm always like, 'What's with the glasses? How is that a disguise?' Now, I know some people are like, 'Well, suspension of disbelief, he's a superhero. He has a cape.' But I'm like, 'I don't know. I think there's a reason for the cape. It's because he looks cool.' How do glasses hide his identity?

"And I said that to Tom King. We have this group of writers who we met with to plan out some of the beginning stages of the DCU," Gunn continues. "I was saying I'm upset about the glasses. And Tom's like, 'There's a reason, canonically, for the glasses.' I'm like, 'There is?' And he's like, 'Yes, they're hypno glasses. It's Kryptonian glass, and they make his face look different.' I'm like, 'Really? Well, now that makes sense to me.' Hypno glasses, now it's silly, but it also makes sense. That just simply comes from giving people a reason to believe he can actually pull that off."

Superman arrives in theaters this July 11. In the meantime, check out our guides to all the upcoming DC movies and TV shows and how to watch the DC movies in order for even more.

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.

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