By Gavin Boyle
SUPERMAN officially rebooted the DC universe as it crushed its opening weekend, grossing over $200 million at the global box office during its theatrical debut.
“I’m incredibly grateful for your enthusiasm and kind words over the past few days. We’ve had a lot of ‘Super’ in Superman over the years, and I’m happy to have made a movie that focuses on the ‘man’ part of the equation – a kind person always looking out for those in need,” director James Gunn said in response to the movie’s strong reception. “That that resonates so powerfully with so many people across the world is in itself a hopeful testament to the kindness and quality of human beings.”
Bringing in $122 million at the domestic box office, SUPERMAN has received the third-highest opening weekend to date this year, behind LILO & STITCH and A MINECRAFT MOVIE. Along with its draw through one of the most recognizable characters in entertainment, SUPERMAN has attracted audiences through a family-friendly story which places an emphasis on biblical values. A portion of Movieguide®’s review reads:
Writer/Director James Gunn packs SUPERMAN with lots of exciting physical and emotional jeopardy. The movie also has some funny moments. Also, some heartfelt content is morally uplifting. However, the movie changes Superman’s origin story in a significant way that destroys the original story’s biblical allusions to Moses and Jesus. Also, it creates a politically correct pro-immigration theme. Ironically, the movie contradicts this by showing that it’s Superman’s American, non-immigrant parents who make Superman a good guy. SUPERMAN has scary action violence, multiple obscenities and two gratuitous strong profanities.
There has been immense pressure on this movie to succeed as it serves as the launch point for the new DC cinematic universe which Gunn heads up. His goal it to avoid the pitfalls that tanked the Marvel brand in recent years and revive the superhero genre through an epic story told across dozens of movie.
Related: James Gunn Clarifies Plans for Upcoming SUPERMAN Movie
“Storytelling is always king. That’s all that matters to us,” Gunn said in 2023. “So as many of you know, DC has been disconnected in film and television for a long time. And it’s one of our jobs, mine and Peter’s [Safran, co-CEO of DC Studios], to come in and make sure the DCU is connected in film, television, gaming, and animation that the characters are consistent, played by the same actors and it works within one story.”
“A lot of people think it’s going to be Marvel 2.0, and definitely I learned a lot of stuff at Marvel. I think that we have a lot of differences,” he later added. “We are telling a big, central story that is like Marvel, except for, I think that we’re a lot more planned out than Marvel from the beginning because we’ve gotten a group of writers together to work that story out completely.”
“But we’re also creating a universe that is like STAR WARS, where there’s different times, different places, different things, or GAME OF THRONES, where characters are a little bit more morally complex,” he continued.
While the verdict is still out, after SUPERMAN’s opening weekend, Gunn appears to have succeeded in reviving the DC universe through a strong story that focuses on the right morals. Hopefully the series will continue down this path and remain rooted in DC’s biblical roots rather than try to pander to Hollywood’s current agenda.
Read Next: James Gunn Explains What Will Be Canon in New DC Universe
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
- Content: +2Share:
- Content: +4