James Gunn has gone from the godfather of the Guardians of the Galaxy to the fairy godmother of the DC Universe. Under his watchful eye, the superhero franchise will shed its hoary past and relaunch itself, beginning with 2025’s Superman. Along with this new era comes a new approach, one that breaks down unreasonable expectations for comic book movies.
While Gunn obviously won’t be directing every single DC movie, he’s adamant that he’ll hold them all to the same standard, potentially ending one of the worst superhero movie trends in the process.
After a fan on Threads asked Gunn about poor working conditions for visual effects artists, Gunn had a comprehensive answer. “I’ve always given my VFX artist-collaborators time to do their jobs properly, and the respect they deserve,” Gunn said. “And the quality of the VFX in those films is uniformly great because of it.”
Gunn is trying to avoid costly, time-consuming reshoots for Superman.
Gunn, accordingly, is trying to avoid putting artists through crunch time on Superman. “This is why we wrapped on Superman a year before release and why they’ve been hard at work on many shots for months before that,” he continued. “This is why we start heartily editing during the shoot. It’s why I prepare so vigorously and why we only shoot finished screenplays.”
Earlier this month, Gunn revealed that reshoots on Superman are unlikely. That saved time is passed on to the post-production process, which won’t have to rush any VFX work. This lengthy lead time will, hopefully, become the standard for new DC movies.
“Supergirl, which I’m not directing, is being handled the same way,” Gunn said. “I can’t praise the VFX artists that help us create magic enough.”
Marvel projects often run on a tight timeline, forcing VFX artists to work brutal overtime hours.
While Gunn isn’t calling out other studios, his approach does contrast DC’s upcoming movies with Marvel’s strategy. While Superman is spending a year on post-production, Fantastic Four: First Steps — which hits theaters just two weeks after Superman — is taking a year for its entire production, from filming to VFX. And Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World underwent three weeks of reshoots earlier this year, adding in whole new characters and creating a lot of new work for post-production artists.
It’s no secret that Gunn had his frustrations with Marvel, so his time at DC will be a test of his process. If Superman and Supergirl really do have the exceptional VFX that Gunn is teasing — and if VFX artists aren’t overworked to achieve them — then other big-budget movies could or at least should adopt the same process. Superman is supposed to inspire us, so let’s hope he can inspire some industry change, too.
