Action in Superman Movies Has Not Been Balanced
Superman's superhuman strength naturally makes any story starring the Man of Steel a little more challenging to write than normal. After all, Superman could conceivably punch his way to triumph against most enemies. Most Superman stories highlight drama specifically in order to solve this issue. But almost every live-life Superman movie has overcompensated, greatly restricting the length and breadth of their Action sequences. Technological restrictions at the time meant that action scenes in Richard Donner's Superman films were quite simple, and Superman Returns paid respect to earlier Superman films, hence including minimal action scenes.
Man of Steel over compensated with its action-packed third act years later, with Superman and Zod destroying most of the DCEU's Metropolis. The great destruction of Man of Steel's climax battle attracted a lot of criticism for the movie and begged questions about Superman's conscience of collateral damage. Even still, one of the key sources of conflict in the 2013 film is Superman's seeming negligence in his Man of Steel conflicts. It also sticks out since Man of Steel's first half is relatively slow and dramatic, before the historic Metropolis battle.
Superman's Cast Suggests The Action Of The DCU Movie Will Be Of Focus
Superman has few enemies to battle, which is one reason past live-action Superman movies have struggled to strike a mix between action and drama. If Superman desired, he would wipe any human adversary like Lex Luthor; as Man of Steel showed, Superman can demolish a whole city aiming to overcome similarly-powered foes with just physical force. Given that Superman's cast consists of several supporting metahumans who can engage in various action scenes either with or against Kal El, James Gunn's Superman seems to have the ideal solution to this dilemma.
María Gabriela de Faría's The Engineer may also physically threaten Superman and his heroic companions anytime Lex Luthor isn't torturing him psychologically. DC characters such The Engineer, Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific, Metamorpho, and Guy Gardner haven't gotten an opportunity to shine on film prior. Thus, any chance these supporting metahumans get to highlight their talents and abilities in James Gunn's Superman will provide an interesting supplement to the first instance of Superman and Lex Luthor's conflict in the DCU.
From James Gunn's filmography, what can the DCU's Superman take?
Superhero Projects by James Gunn Have Given Each Action Scene Its Due
James Gunn's Superman offers a well-balanced and steady degree of action, free from the action issues of the past Superman films. Luckily, Gunn has already shown his ability for directing action scenes in five Superhero films already. Though their battle scenes are especially memorable because of their creative choreography, top-notch VFX, and amazing soundtrack, the Guardians of the Galaxy films are typically cheerful and funny. For example, the opening sequence in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a highlight of the film; the corridor fight in Vol. 3 established the standard for high-budget, VFX-heavy long-take action scenes.
Likewise, visually spectacular extradiegetic VFX and inventive camerawork abound in Harley Quinn's prison breakout and Peacemaker's struggle against Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad. The former included a shot of Rick Flag and Peacemaker fighting seen on the reflection of Peacemaker's helmet, which required very subtle but ambitious CGI and camera movements to hide the camera while showing the action. Harley Quinn sees in her mind while she fights. Exciting battle sequences that suitably combined R-rated comedy with extreme brutality also abound during Peacemaker season 1.
James Gunn's Superman Will Most likely Solve a Solo Movie Problem the Man of Steel Has Had Since DC's First Live-Action Superman Movie 47 Years Earlier
Along with Creature Commandos, James Gunn's 2025 Superman movie will start the new DC Universe and show how different the DCU will be from the defunct DCEU in terms of quality and originality not just in terms of storyline but also. James Gunn's Superman can set a more uniform approach for all next DC productions to copy, therefore bringing with it a fresh beginning.
Superman hasn't had much success on film, or at least not as much as Batman, notwithstanding his reputation as DC Comics' biggest star. Batman has starred in thirteen live-action theatrical films starring eight actors; Superman has only starred (and co-starred) in nine live-action films, starring three actors thus far. Only Christopher Reeve's interpretation of the hero has transcended his early superhero career in his solo films; Superman's collection of enemies has also gone mainly untapped. Besides that, all of the Superman solo films that have thus far come with one major action issue that James Gunn's Superman could at last address in 2025.
Furthermore, every action scenario James Gunn creates has a clear significance.
For example, the last fight of Guardians of the Galaxy creates a family link among the Guardians, while the killing of Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad sets Peacemaker on a road of atonement.
Though enjoyable, every scene is essential for the main ideas of the story. This method will make Gunn's Superman a different kind of narrative approach. Since it sets the path of the story, Gunn's DC Universe starts really well.
