Follow us on Google News
Get the latest updates directly in your Google News feed
James Gunn doesn’t need any introduction when it comes to superhero movie fans around the world. Although he had been a lifelong fan of comic books, his first venture into turning one into a movie wasn’t quite smooth. In fact, his first movie in the genre faced such difficulty that it took years to materialize.
While he had plans to weave a narrative tale of a wannabe vigilante donning a costume, luck wasn’t by his side at the time. He also revealed that he almost cast John C. Reilly as his first superhero, until luck got in his way.
Gunn reflected on the matter once in an interview back before he tapped into his Marvel and DC fame. Although the movie did get made eventually, even years later, it seems to have left its impact on his current career choices.
James Gunn’s first superhero movie nearly cast John C. Reilly as the lead
James Gunnstarted his journey into the superhero movie world withSuper. Although labeling it as a superhero movie might be doing it a disservice, as Gunn claimed in an interview withThe Film Stage“It’s really about the guy and not the costume.”
Regardless, the movie tells the story of an ordinary man who tries to turn his ordinary life around by donning a superhero costume and becoming a friendly neighborhood vigilante.
While the story sounds interesting, the movie unfortunately had trouble materializing in its entirety for various reasons. Gunn recalled during the interview that while he had penned the script back in 2002, Charles Roven was producingSuperand they wanted to minimize the violence in the movie.
Karla Sofía Gascón, James Gunn and 4 Other Hollywood Stars Who Are Sorry for Their Insensitive Tweets From the Past
Moreover, the company that was financing the movie had an entire checklist that needed to be ticked for the project to be greenlighted. This unfortunately meant James Gunn’s idea of casting John C. Reilly in the lead drowning by the deep end.
There were a lot of actors that wanted to play the role, but the only person I could see playing the role at that time was John C. Reilly, and he wasn’t a big enough star at the time to get the movie made.
He further noted they were still gonna make the movie with a different actor. The director claimed that he wanted someone who“could do the comedy, could do the drama”and was physically imposing.
David Corenswet’s Movie Can’t be Released in Many Countries: Why is Superman’s Co-creator Joseph Shuster Suing Warner Bros?
However, they also needed to pull off“goofy”to make their dynamic with other characters believable.Superfinally saw the light of the day in 2010, withRainn Wilsonportraying the character.
James Gunn’s comic book fanaticism has taken him far in his career
James Gunn claimed in the same interview that he had been a lifelong fan of comics. To the point that he still reads any new comic that comes out. Incidentally, this fanaticism seems to have taken him far in his career.
From establishing his name with Marvel’sGuardians of the Galaxyseries to becomingDC Studiosdirector, Gunn is living the dream these days. Interestingly, though, the impact of the troubles he faced while making his first movie still seems to hound him.
James Gunn revealed last December thathe has become quite controlling in his projects.It seems to be paying off for now, as his first project since becoming DC Studios directorCreature Commandoshas been the talk of the townsince it came out. However, only time will tell how the future turns out for him.
“There is absolutely zero CG in his face”: James Gunn Takes the Christopher Nolan Route With a Huge David Corenswet Superman Revelation
With his dream projectSupermanreleasing this summer, though, things only seem to be on the rise for him. What is more fascinating is hisprevious studio Marvel and current studio DC seem to be duking it outfor their high-volume releases this year. Although only time will tell what the future holds, fans are excited for it anyway.
WhileSuperis available to stream on Prime Video,Supermanis flying into the theaters on July 09, 2025.
Anushree Banerjee
Articles Published :595
Anushree Banerjee is an Anime Writer at FandomWire with over 550 published articles. She has a post-grad in English and years of experience working with some of the biggest companies on the pop culture, and anime scene, such as, Sportskeeda, Pinkvilla, and MovieWeb. Staying on top of everything anime consumes her days, while bingeing on everything horror, and thriller keeps her up at night. Be it superhero flicks from Marvel and DC, or Shonen, and Seinen, like Bleach, The Apothecary Diaries, and Attack on Titan, she can probably state facts about them faster than she can recite her home address.
