James Gunn Doesn’t Like You Making Fun Of Superhero Movies

Dan Gilroy won Best First Feature for the fucking awesome Nightcrawler at the Independent Spirit Awards, then used his acceptaance speech to say, “I think are holdouts against a tsunami of superhero movies that have swept over this industry. We have survived and we have thrived and I think that’s true spirit.” That’s cool, Gilroy. But I wish you would have told us more about the time you wrote Reel Steel and The Bourne Legacy. And Tim Burton’s Superman Lives movie that never happened.  Jack Black got in on the fun at the Oscars by doing Jack Black things. Anyway, Guardians Of The Galaxy director, James Gunn, wasn’t happy about it, so he did what any angry mom would do when bully son gets called out at school. He wrote a really long Facebook post about it.

“I didn’t really find the Jack Black superhero jokes offensive, did you guys? It was, like, a joke. I’m not sure if you guys noticed, but the writing on the Oscars didn’t seem to be all that well thought out. As far as Dan Gilroy saying that attendees of the Independent Spirit Awards have survived against a “tsunami of superhero films” – well it seems a bit weird coming from a guy whose wife has acted in two Thor films – really, that seems like you’ve drowned horribly in that tsunami. But I know I just kind of make up stuff as I go along on these awards shows, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Whatever the case, the truth is, popular fare in any medium has always been snubbed by the self-appointed elite. I’ve already won more awards than I ever expected for Guardians. What bothers me slightly is that many people assume because you make big films that you put less love, care, and thought into them then people do who make independent films or who make what are considered more serious Hollywood films. I’ve made B-movies, independent films, children’s movies, horror films, and gigantic spectacles. I find there are plenty of people everywhere making movies for a buck or to feed their own vanity. And then there are people who do what they do because they love story-telling, they love cinema, and they want to add back to the world some of the same magic they’ve taken from the works of others. In all honesty, I do no find a strikingly different percentage of those with integrity and those without working within any of these fields of film. If you think people who make superhero movies are dumb, come out and say we’re dumb. But if you, as an independent filmmaker or a “serious” filmmaker, think you put more love into your characters than the Russo Brothers do Captain America, or Joss Whedon does the Hulk, or I do a talking raccoon, you are simply mistaken.”

Christ. Fucking boo hoo. Like, I really want to like superhero movies, and I know they want to be taken seriously, but Google comic book Captain America then look at Chris Evans in that Party City costume. Google comic Hulk then go look at Mark Ruffalo’s CGI head cut and pasted on Shrek’s body. No matter what theme of the human condition you’re trying to explore, it just doesn’t work when Jennifer Lawrence is covered in blue scales. Sorry. I know you really want it to, but it’s not gonna happen. Hiring actual directors doesn’t really legitimize those movies, it just means Marvel and DC wrote some numbers on a check that nobody could turn down. You walk into a superhero movie and walk out having seen a superhero movie. Your opinions or worldview hasn’t really changed, you just saw some shit get blown up and Robert Downey, Jr. put his great great grandkids through college. Superhero movies exist because they make a tsunami of money. That being said, Guardians of Galaxy and American Sniper were the two best movies about fictional superheros last year. Sorry, that movie where Captain America tried to uncover a political conspiracy with that black guy. You tried.