His appearance on longtime friend and regular collaborator Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast may have happened a couple of weeks back, but James Gunn‘s comments on the current state of superhero cinema have inevitably been weaponized against him as The Flash continues circling the drain after less than two weeks in theaters.
Of course, if there’s one person in the industry not named Kevin Feige who can single-handedly turn the tide of apathy and resentment that’s been building against Hollywood’s marquee comic book adaptations, then it’s the co-CEO and creative mastermind behind the DCU’s next overhaul, who also happens to be the writer and director of six acclaimed projects set in the genre.
Needless to say, though, Gunn opening his mouth is enough to incite the fury of those who oppose his mere existence as the figurehead of the franchise originated by Zack Snyder, and his words on the fatigue and repetition that’s blighted many a spandex-clad adventure has come back to haunt him as The Flash takes an absolute battering from all sides.
It goes without saying that Gunn wasn’t directly involved in the conception, development, and execution of The Flash, but his fingerprints ended up all over it anyway after he decided to change the ending, discarded Henry Cavill to the cutting room floor, and recruited George Clooney for a cameo that underlines the Scarlet Speedster has ended up in a timeline that isn’t the one he and Peter Safran are currently curating.
Day by day, the pressure on Superman: Legacy continues to grow, and you can bet that Gunn is fully aware of it.