James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ had a surprising film influence

Superman‘s trailer is here and we are learning more about James Gunn’s take on the Man of Steel. One of the more surprising reveals during the push for it came from Gunn himself when he talked about inspiration for the film.

As part of the trailer’s release, there was a bunch of new quotes about the process released from a number of sources. There was information from set visits coming out as well as a trailer event in Los Angeles at Warner Bros. that allowed journalists to ask Gunn questions about the film. When he was talking about shooting “flying things,” he revealed a surprising bit of inspiration for it.

ComicBook reported that Gunn said “I wrote up this big document on action and what our philosophy is of action and how we shoot it and what it is, and keeping it alive in the air, as well as on the ground,” Gunn said. “And to be able to shoot stuff in the sky as if we were shooting it … Because everything was rougher, like, it’s in Guardians [of the Galaxy], like it’s in The Suicide Squad. And being able to shoot stuff in the sky like that is really hard.”

That flying is important. Superman (David Corenswet) was going to have to make audiences believe that a man can fly. And one of the inspirations for it was apparently my favorite movie about going fast: Top Gun: Maverick. The 2022 sequel to the 1986 Tom Cruise film brought audiences back to theaters and reminded us how a good movie can make us feel. And it also showed Gunn how to shoot things flying and I think that is perfect.

James Gunn is just like me, for real (watching Top Gun: Maverick)

In the report, Gunn said that his document outlining what they wanted the action to look like included Maverick to highlight how they wanted the feel of Superman flying to look. “So we took a lot from films like Top Gun: Maverick, which, we are shooting flying things. We shoot a lot of our action with actual drones flying in and around Superman and the people that he’s flying with, The Engineer, whoever else, that he’s fighting up in the air, and we did that on sound stages,” Gunn said.

He went on to talk about how the filming on set allowed them to explore and find the magic there. “We got these really small, crazy drones now. We’ve got some of the best flyers in the world here who are working with it. And so we use those guys a lot and everything’s planned out with me, as it always is. But at the same time, I’ve gotten even more into finding new stuff on the set and new moments and exploring that stuff, finding magic where it is.”

You already had me sold on Superman, I was invested. But telling me that Top Gun: Maverick was an inspiration just has me locked even more in. Is it July yet? I need my Clark Kent!