From Guardians of the Galaxy to being the co-CEO of DC, James Gunn is probably the most credible man to name his favorite superhero movies. In an interview with GQ, he talked about his love for the genre with a range of movies, from Deadpool to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (seen below).
Adapting comic books to film has had a long history with plenty of ups and downs and different stylistic takes. We have seen R-rated comedies like the director’s own The Suicide Squad, Matt Reeves’ detective story with The Batman, and many more. When naming his favorite superhero movies, James Gunn has a lot to pick from, so even his choices could be divisive for passionate fans. People may think there is fatigue, but the director’s enthusiasm shows that there is still plenty of love out there for the genre.
James Gunn Picks His Favorite Superhero Movies
The filmmaker started with Deadpool. He could only pick five comic book movies, so he only picked the first but still gave the second love as one of his all-time favorites. He compared it to his own Guardians of the Galaxy films by being “even more of comedies than” his galactic action-comedies for Marvel Studios. He found the two films “so well made and so heartfelt.” He even gave respect to leading star Ryan Reynolds by comparing him to Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark and Christopher Reeve as Superman. While he thinks the adaption nailed what the character was on the page, the movies were “more grounded and gives it a little bit more heart.”
Speaking of Reeve as the Man of Steel, James Gunn picks his 1978 Superman as one of his favorite superhero movies. While he thinks it is a “great movie,” the emotional relevance as to how it “changed” his life when he saw it as a child had a significant impact on him. The moment seeing it in the theater was like seeing Star Wars as “the next big magical movie.” While many applauded Reeve for what he brought out in the character, for The Suicide Squad director, it was the “playfulness” that he felt truly captured the iconic DC superhero.
The emotional impact that Superman delivered will be interesting to see how it affects the filmmaker’s career. He is set to direct and write his own film, Superman: Legacy. The casting hunt is currently underway.
Into the Spider-Verse is not only the number one pick for superhero movies, but for James Gunn, it is his favorite comic book movie. Throughout the runtime, he finds it perfect as it “does not have a bad beat in it.” While the genre goes after the Multiverse, he found that the filmmakers “did it in such a balanced and real way” that made for a “really tight” film.
Among the non-superhero movies, the director also gave love to Oldboy and A History of Violence.