If Superhero Movies Must Exist, Thank God A Dude Who Worked At Troma Is Leading The Charge

DC Studios co-CEO and co-chairman James Gunn has a lot on his shoulders. The writer, director, and producer is in charge of the new cinematic DC Universe (along with fellow co-CEO and co-chairman Peter Safran), and his upcoming “Superman” film is going to be the catalyst to kick it all off. Gunn’s “Superman,” starring David Corenswet as the titular Kryptonian, has to work for audiences and get people hooked on this new cinematic universe fast, as many of the DC characters (including Superman) will be entering the public domain in the next decade or two. Gunn previously wrote and directed “The Suicide Squad” in 2021, showing audiences what his unique voice could look like using DC Comics characters, and without many of the constraints of working within the other major comics super-franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” films are a lot of colorful fun, but with nearly full control over the entire DC Universe, he will be able to make exactly the movies he wants and help other creatives do the same.

There are some folks who aren’t happy with the fact that Gunn is in charge of one whole branch of superhero cinema, but he might be one of the only people who can actually do the job and stay true to the comics themselves. You see, Gunn isn’t just a giant film nerd and an even bigger comic book geek, but he also got his start working with the independent and rebellious Troma Studios, and that weird punk ethos still beats within him. His time at Troma taught him how to make movies on the fly, and he knows better than to take everything too seriously — skills that are going to (hopefully) help make superhero movies feel fresh again.

Gunn basically hit the ground running when he first started working at Troma, getting paid $150 to write a Tromafied version of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and taking on the role of “associate director” alongside Troma head Lloyd Kaufman, who directed the film. In an interview with TromaMovies.com, Gunn revealed that the job was really a kind of trial by fire and he essentially learned how to write a screenplay as he went along, saying:

“When I was hired to write ‘Tromeo’ I didn’t even have a scriptwriting program. I didn’t know script format. I ran down to the bookstore and bought a published copy of ‘Sex, Lies, and Videotape’ and copied that format, using Microsoft Word.”

The experience of making the movie served as a kind of filmmaker boot camp, and soon after he co-wrote the book “All I Need To Know About FILMMAKING I Learned From THE TOXIC AVENGER: The Shocking True Story of Troma Studios” with Kaufman, becoming a certified keeper of the Troma histories. Troma films forced Gunn to learn to think on his feet with small budgets. From these extremely humble origins he managed to become one of the most in-demand directors in popular cinema, yet he’s never forgotten where he came from and includes Kaufman cameos in nearly all of his films. There’s really a little bit of Troma in all of Gunn’s movies even beyond the cameos from Uncle Lloyd, though, including occasionally jarring tonal switches, lots of disturbing gross-out moments and gore, and most importantly, a lot of love for the misfits of the world.

Troma’s most famous movie is “The Toxic Avenger,” which centers on a nerdy janitor named Melvin who ends up becoming the superpowered mutant hero the Toxic Avenger, and nearly all of Gunn’s work has similarly featured misfits finding their way through the world. His stories are pretty explicitly character-driven — heck, even his “Dawn of the Dead” remake screenplay is a story about redemption, instead of the original’s greater commentary on capitalism. His feature directorial debut, “Slither,” is likewise a disgusting alien invasion body horror movie that also functions as a love triangle between a small town sheriff, his high school sweetheart, and the man she married who has turned into a tentacled monster, illustrating Gunn’s ability to use genre films to tell smaller, more personal stories. He applies that same tactic to his superhero films, too, which is how he managed to make audiences fall in love with the rather-unknown (at the time) Marvel heroes in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and made “The Suicide Squad” a heartfelt and hilarious superhero movie where the biggest heroes end up being a horde of rats.

Gunn’s plan to try and avoid some of the superhero fatigue people are feeling as a result of the ever-expanding MCU involves making sure that its DC counterpart is character-focused, not story-focused. He has shown time and time again that he is an excellent storyteller when it comes to creating compelling characters first and then giving them a proper arc, and that methodology could be what saves superhero cinema from itself.

Here’s the thing: James Gunn really loves superheroes. He wrote the superhero spoof “The Specials” in 2000, produced the “What if Superman was evil?” film “Brightburn” in 2019, and wrote and directed a dark comedic subversion of the genre with “Super” in 2010. “The Specials” and “Super” might make someone think at a glance that Gunn hates superheroes, as he skewers the mere concept pretty viciously, but his criticisms come from a place of love. Like “The Boys” writer Garth Ennis or “Watchmen” scribe Alan Moore, Gunn has deconstructed superheroes and dressed them down a bit because he cares enough to do so. He once joked that having “The Specials” compared to the nearly-perfect 1999 superhero satire “Mystery Men” was better than being compared to “Citizen Kane.” It’s interesting, because “Mystery Men” balances irreverence and earnestness much like Gunn’s work, with a deep love for the subject matter and the characters themselves despite whatever commentary is being made about superheroes overall. 

Gunn has made his geekiness for comic books and superheroes pretty clear, and he possesses seemingly encyclopedic knowledge about the most obscure Marvel and DC characters (from Rocket Raccoon and Groot to DC’s absolutely ludicrous Bat-Mite). He’s just as interested in making a series about the Creature Commandos as he is making a movie about Superman, and honestly, that’s the guy I want in charge of the plan for DC’s cinematic future. 

There are some folks who are worried about Gunn’s role in comics cinema, either because they’re big fans of his other work and don’t want to see him stuck in the confines of superhero stories forever, or because they don’t like him and his particular brand of irreverence. While both are valid positions, I’d argue that we’re going to have superhero movies one way or another, and I want someone who truly loves superheroes and understands them at a core level in charge. Gunn’s leadership at DC is a lot like giving the geekiest kid at the comic book store the keys to the castle, and he’s not going to gatekeep either. Instead of forcing everyone who wants to make a DC Comics story to fit within the greater cinematic continuity, he’s going to continue to allow other creatives to make “Elseworlds” stories that aren’t connected, like Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie à Deux.” Gunn also plans on being as “hands-off” as possible with them, which means we should get all kinds of superhero movies from a variety of perspectives, and not just Gunn’s. 

Gunn has likewise made it clear that he wants to elevate writers, knowing the importance of good writing from starting as one himself. He’s using his position of power to try and make positive changes that will benefit audiences first and foremost, making his nerdy dreams come true and telling the stories he would have wanted to see onscreen as a younger fan. I’ll take that over some corporate suit who doesn’t know his Batman from his Man-Bat any day of the week. Gunn’s work might not always be everyone’s cup of tea, but his time in the trenches at Troma and his real love for comics means he has a plan for DC that could end up having a little bit of something for everyone.

“Superman” opens in theaters on July 11, 2025.