James Gunn revealed how much he understands the issue that fans have with remakes, owing to his own issues with one Nick Cage film.

Remakes tend to make fans nervous more often than not, and James Gunn understands this very well. The director was responsible for helming the script of the Dawn of the Dead remake, which was directed by Zack Snyder. Owing to this, the Guardians of the Galaxy director opened up about how remakes make fans of the original cynical, and why he understands this sentiment pretty well.

James Gunn | image: Erik Drost, licensed under CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

While helming Dawn of the Dead, James Gunn talked about how a particular remake had him incredibly miffed, causing him to react exactly how a disgruntled fan would. This film was Nicolas Cage’s City of Angels, which was the remake of Wings of Desire.

James Gunn was still not over the Wings of Desire remake at the time of the interview

Wings of Desire (dir. Wim Winders) || Argos Films

James Gunn was sympathetic to cynical fans who were not so sure about remakes in general. While he believed that the backlash could be bad for the industry, it was understandable that fans and audiences were a little worked up about stories they love getting retold. He said:

I take on these projects that are near and dear to people’s hearts and then expect them not to be afraid? No way. If I heard there was going to be a Dawn of the Dead remake three years ago, I probably would have been on the message boards myself with more than a little cynicism. I was furious when I heard Wings of Desire was being remade (as the Nicolas Cage weeper City of Angels). In fact, I’m still not so happy about that one.

James Gunn‘s attitude towards the City of Angels, which starred Nicolas Cage, is what a lot of people had to his and Zack Snyder’s version of Dawn of the Dead, which a lot of fans believed did not deserve a remake. While Cage’s film was able to make $198.6 million against a budget of $55 million, Gunn could not bring himself to terms with the film’s existence. However, Gunn’s own attitude about remakes changed as he became involved with Zack Snyder’s maiden feature project.

James Gunn’s Superman is taking a novel approach to superhero worldbuilding

David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan in Superman || Credit: Warner Bros.

While the DCEU took an approach similar to the MCU when it comes to building out its superhero universe, the DCU will be taking a different route altogether. As seen in the MCU, and the DCEU, there has been an increase in the existence of superheroes from the moment that the first film in the franchise is released. However, in James Gunn’s DCU, superheroes will have a public, storied history before the events of the first film will even play out.

James Gunn has said that rather than looking to the MCU for inspiration for the franchise, the DCU will be more akin to something like Star Wars, with an established lore that will be explored in further installments to come, which might all the DCU to dodge one problem that the MCU is currently facing.

While heroes that have had histories before the Avengers are having a tough time fitting into the MCU, the DCU can introduce a slew of concepts after major conflicts, given that they have always existed in the universe since before the first installment, as established.

Superman is set to hit theatres on July 11, 2025