As tends to be the case anytime he opens his mouth to talk about anything, the backlash towards James Gunn was swift and fierce following his appearance on close friend and regular collaborator Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast.
Most of the fury revolved around the two talking all things Lex Luthor, a subject the host knows very well having played the role in the first seven seasons of Smallville. Unsurprisingly – at least to those who throw nepotism allegations his way on a regular basis – the co-CEO of DC Studios named Rosenbaum as the best-ever iteration of Superman’s arch-nemesis.
Naturally, it didn’t take more than a minute for the long-dormant Gene Hackman fandom to rise from the ashes, while others felt aggrieved the duo were less than complimentary about Jesse Eisenberg’s contributions to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, even if there wasn’t so much as a single soul beating the drum for Kevin Spacey’s turn in Superman Returns.
Having clearly been keeping an eye on social media in the 24 hours since, Gunn felt it was worth his time to respond to the backlash, with the filmmaker claiming that people are just looking for a reason to get worked up.
As the person in charge of shaping and executing DC’s creative vision for the next decade and possibly even beyond, Gunn is well within his rights to say whatever the hell he wants without having to justify it. Of course, that’s not how these things work on the internet, so those who were left enraged by his perceived Lex Luthor slander will have to make do with an explanation.
