Superwas one of James Gunn’s first feature films, coming out in 2010 and starring Rainn Wilson, who at this point is certainly better known asDwight fromThe Office. The film cost 2.5 million to make, but it only made $590,000 at the box office. This makesSuperGunn’s lowest-grossing film to date, but the film has since achieved cult classic status in spite of mixed critical reviews.
InSuper, Wilson plays a Dwight-adjacent character called Frank who, despite having no superpowers, decides after an unfortunate event in his life thathe is going to become a superhero. The story is somewhat similar to that of Batman. Just as Batman decides to become a vigilante after his parents are murdered by a mugger, Wilson’s character becomes the Crimson Bolt after his wife leaves him for a drug dealer.
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In what appears to be a vision from God, he is told by The Holy Avenger (a television superhero in the world of the filmportrayed by Nathan Fillion, based on the real world Bibleman) that “some of his children are chosen.” Frank takes this to mean that he is one of the chosen people, meant to do something more. As a result of his lack of superpowers, after his first few attempts at crime-fighting, he decides to get a pipe wrench so that he can better overpower the criminals he encounters. “Criminals” is perhaps not quite the word, however, as the majority of the people that the Crimson Bolt attacks with the wrench have committed only petty crimes. In one scene he nearly kills two people over cutting in a line.
Superis a very contained movie,unlike most popular superhero films. The story follows one man and his life and is essentially told in around three main locations. This results in the stakes being very low, especially in comparison to a Marvel movie where a bunch of characters are all fighting for the fate of the world and the human race. The low-budget nature of the film makes it a very interesting superhero movie, and so does the notion of the protagonist as an anti-hero.
In the majority of mainstream blockbuster superhero films, the superhero is almost always definitively the good guy, and there is no real moral ambiguity. The villain is always doing something way worse no matter how bad the good guy is. And even if the good guy does do something bad, there is usually an airtight explanation as to why. Conversely, Frank attacks two people for cutting in line. Of course, in his mind, he is doing the right thing, and it is morally wrong to cut in line. But to act in the way that he does over such a small thing makes him the immoral one in a sense. Frank is not perfect, and this is yet another aspect that makesSupersuch an entertaining film.
James Gunn’s writing and directingtogether with Rainn Wilson’s actingworked together well in bringing this project together. It is easy to see why the film is now considered a cult classic. The dry humor inSuperis definitely present in the first twoGuardians of the Galaxymovies, although they are nowhere near as violent. Or at the very least, not as gory visually. One might wonder as to whether or not Gunn will veer more into the violence in his upcoming project,The Suicide Squad, or evenGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
TheGuardians of the Galaxyfilms, or really any of the Marvel films have not been so gory in the past, so that seems less likely. However, sincethe Snyder Cut ofJustice Leaguewas R-rated, it seems possible that the DCEU might do the same with this. They might be more successful if more of their films had the violence and gore that would warrant an R-rating. AfterBatman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, the first cut ofJustice League, andWonder Woman 1984, they must be willing to try anything.
It seems that with these superhero genre films, going in a more comedic direction can do some good for the franchise, just asGuardians of the Galaxyrevived faith in the MCU for some, andTaika Waititi’sThor: Ragnorakarguably saved the Thor series. Getting Gunn to doThe Suicide Squadseems like a step in that same direction for the DCEU. Hopefully, with this project, Gunn will be allowed to go even more in the same direction asSuperthan he was withGuardians of the Galaxy. But even if he can’t,Superstill exists, and if there are fans of superhero films that haven’t seen it yet, the movie should certainly be added to a list of films to watch.
