Director James Gunn has confirmed that the new “Superman” movie is intended to be a political film.
“I mean, ‘Superman’ is the story of America,” Gunn said in an interview with The Times of London published on Friday. “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.”
The DC Studios co-chair acknowledged that both sides of the political spectrum will interpret the themes differently, depending on their individual beliefs.
“Yes, it plays differently, but it’s 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 continued.
“Yes, it’s about politics,” Gunn said. “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] believes? It’s really about their relationship and the way different opinions on basic moral beliefs can tear two people apart.”
“This Superman does seem to come at a particular time when people are feeling a loss of hope in other people’s goodness,” he went on. “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.”
The entertainment exec added, “And I include myself in this. 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. 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.”
The DC Studios head has been a critic of President Trump in the past. In 2017, he called Trump “an incompetent President forging a full-blown attack on facts and journalism in the style of Hitler and Putin.”
He also caught heat for making an inappropriate joke about Trump on X, saying an interview for any potential employee would include the questions, “‘Do you know anything about the position?’ and ‘Are you on my d***?’ The person that answers ‘no’ and ‘yes,’ respectively, gets hired.”
Gunn was previously fired from Disney’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise when inappropriate tweets he made about 9/11, rape, and pedophilia surfaced. The director was reinstated a year later after making a public apology and attending multiple meetings regarding the incident.
“My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative,” Gunn said at the time. “I have regretted them for many years since – not just because they were stupid, not at all funny, wildly insensitive, and certainly not provocative like I had hoped, but also because they don’t reflect the person I am today or have been for some time.”
The highly anticipated “Superman” movie premieres on July 11, starring David Corenswet in the titular role.
