Audiences can lament the apparent downturn in quality that’s plagued the superhero genre all they want, but nothing is going to change unless the people in charge understand the criticisms and take action. Fortunately, James Gunn happens to be one of those folks, and he seems cognizant of where the issues lie.
That’s just as well seeing as his Marvel Cinematic Universe swansong will hit theaters one week from today when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is released, before he immediately turns his attention to focusing full-time on DC Studios and its in-development slate of Chapter 1: Gods & Monsters projects.
In an interview with Esquire Middle East, the filmmaker pretty much hit the nail on the head when he lamented many of the recurring problems to have dogged cinema’s most bankable genre, leading to a drastic decline in critical acclaim and box office dollars as a result.
“They all end up kind of looking the same. It’s a lot of bang, and smash, and every third act leaves the story behind and just becomes a big fight scene. And, I think, repeatedly focusing on ‘saving the universe’ gets a little old, because we all know the universe isn’t going to die. There’s no real stakes in these movies.”
Marvel and DC have both been equally complicit in falling into the exact same traps, and having spent a lot of time firmly embedded in both camps, let’s hope Gunn manages to navigate the familiar obstacles when he begins overhauling the other of Hollywood’s marquee superhero universes now that his MCU run is at its end.