It’s fair to say James Gunn knows a thing or two about the superhero movie world. Not only is he responsible for making the Guardians of the Galaxy hugely popular in the MCU, but he’s also now the top dog across the way in the DCU, too.
Gunn made the Guardians some of the most beloved MCU characters around, and he’s about to finish his Marvel movie trilogy when the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 release date arrives. Between the three MCU movies, he’s also bagged himself the job as the head of the DC movie division and has a whole roster of new movies on the way as part of Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, the fresh slate of content for DC.
Speaking to Deadline, Gunn spoke on the topic of superhero fatigue and explained how both Marvel and DC can avoid that.
On the supposed rivalry between the two studios, Gunn said: “To be frank, I think the better Marvel movies do, it’s better for DC, and the better DC movies do, it’s better for Marvel. When people see bad movies, they don’t want to spend more money on seeing more movies. So you want good movies to happen.”
Gunn believes superhero fatigue does exist, but added: “It has to do with the kind of stories that get to be told, and if you lose your eye on the ball, which is character. We love Superman. We love Batman. We love Iron Man. Because they’re these incredible characters that we have in our hearts. And if it becomes just a bunch of nonsense onscreen, it gets really boring. But I get fatigued by most spectacle films, by the grind of not having an emotionally grounded story.”
So there you have it, the key to beating superhero fatigue is to make sure character is at the heart of everything you do. Sure enough, the best movies from both Marvel and DC have always been rich in character work, and hopefully we can see that element come to the fore once more in the future.
In the meantime, check out our guide to the Guardians of the Galaxy cast, or look ahead to new projects on the horizon with our guides to the Superman Legacy release date, or The Brave and the Bold release date.