Believe it or not, a filmmaker’s previous projects are no indication as to whether or not they’d be suitable – or even competent – at something that doesn’t seem as though it fits their stylistic or aesthetic sensibilities on paper. That being said, James Gunn emerging as the number one favorite to direct Superman: Legacy was always going to split opinion.
The DC Studios co-CEO has been all over the headlines for any number of reasons ever since he first ascended to power, with many critics and detractors failing to look beyond his longtime association with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his signature offbeat humor, or the fact the SnyderVerse has officially been taken round the back and given the Old Yeller treatment.
While the filmmaker didn’t waste any time in debunking rumors claiming the casting process was already underway for the Kryptonian superhero’s next reboot, he’s been suspiciously silent on the reports touting him as being “likely” to step behind the camera himself.
As you can imagine, the responses have been all over the spectrum from apoplectic to overjoyed, something that’s already defined Gunn’s short tenure as the architect of the DCU’s creative future.
The writer and director may have had a hand in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker, with Super and Brightburn wearing their comic book influences on their sleeves, but that isn’t an indication of how well he’d fare at the helm of Superman: Legacy.
After all, did anyone peg Memento and Insomnia‘s Christopher Nolan, You, Me and Dupree‘s the Russo brothers, Elf‘s Jon Favreau, or Kate & Leopold‘s James Mangold as being able to deliver some of the greatest costumed capers there’s ever been?