The horrific twist on a classic superhero tale turns to the dark side on streaming

James Gunn has spent his entire career making it abundantly clear that he loves few things more than gnarly horror, superhero stories, and subverting expectations. When you take those three individual elements, throw them into a blender and toss the resulting mixture onto the big screen, you end up with a concoction that looks like Brightburn.

Keeping it almost entirely in the extended family, director David Yarovesky called the shots on an R-rated interpretation of Superman’s origin story that was produced by Gunn, co-written by his brother Brian and cousin Mark, with requisite roles for a number of regular collaborators including Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, Elizabeth Banks, and Michael Rooker.

A fascinating approach to deconstructing one of pop culture’s most enduring myths, the greatest thing about Brightburn is the instantly engaging simplicity of its setup. What if Superman crash-landed on Earth, but when he grew up, he was a little asshole that wanted to kill everyone who pissed him off and destroy the entire world?

Reviews, just like the box office numbers, were solid without being spectacular in the end, but Brightburn has already evolved to become a popular cult favorite only three years after its release. A reliably regular performer on streaming, the alternative tale of costumes and capes has been soaring up the on-demand ranks once again.

Per FlixPatrol, the nasty and twisted origin story for the titular villain has become one of the 10 top-viewed titles on the Prime Video charts in the United Kingdom, with superhero fatigue unable to set in when there’s so much variety on offer.