Now Streaming: James Gunn's SUPER Dresses Like Superman, Bashes Like a Lovelorn Maniac
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, US, James Gunn began his entertainment career with a foundational stint at Troma Entertainment.
His subversive sense of humor fit well, as demonstrated in his scripts for Tromeo and Juliet (1996) and various shorter efforts, and later helped to spark Scooby-Doo (2002), which was reportedly softened by studio executives, and Zach Snyder's Dawn of the Dead (2004), leading to his feature directorial debut, Slither (2006), which is, unfortunately, not currently streaming.
That's too bad for those wanting to catch up with early James Gunn. Two of our writers wrote wonderfully individual reviews at the time, the first by St. Louis native Jim Tudor -- be sure to read through to the end to enjoy Gunn's comments from a Q&A after the screening -- and the second by Dave Canfield, which puts the film into monster-movie context.
Gunn next moved on to an R-rated superhero movie that is more like an anti-superhero movie.
Super (2010)
The film is now streaming on IFC Films Unlimited.
Rainn Wilson stars as a short-order cook whose marriage with Liv Tyler breaks up when she is lured away by evil criminal gang leader Kevin Bacon. The lovelorn Wilson decides to become his own brand of superhero so he can win her back and, in general, defeat evil, teaming up with comic book store worker Elliot Page (then known as Ellen Page).
Watching the film for the first time now, it's impossible to forget that Gunn would next make the mostly family-friendly Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), which became a monster success and spawn two sequels, and lead eventually to Gunn moving from Marvel to D.C., where he first made the extremely violent and potty-mouthed The Suicide Squad (2021) before ducking back for the third Guardians movie.
After that, Gunn returned to D.C. in 2022, becoming co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios alongside his longtime producing partner Peter Safran. So far, he's written and produced the Peacemaker and Creature Commandos series, which are extremely violent and potty-mouthed, which is a direct line back to Super and nearly all of Gunn's work prior to his Disney and Marvel forays.
We published multiple Super reviews at the time. All make for good reading, either before or after watching and/or revisiting the movie.
Review by Kurt Halfyard
Review by Dave Canfield
Review by Niels Matthijs
We also published an interview with James Gunn, conducted by Charles Webb in August 2011, in which the filmmaker talked with Charles about the film's comic book origins, who suggested Rainn Wilson for the lead role, the impending (at the time) DC Comics relaunch, working on a videogame, and his future plans. It's a fantastic read, and I enjoyed revisiting it.
IFC Films Unlimited is a subscription video on demand streaming service, featuring films distributed by IFC Films, Sundance Selects, and IFC Midnight. A free trial is available through its partners, which include Apple TV, Prime Video Channels, YouTube TV, Dish, The Roku Channel, and Sling. It is also available through AMC Plus, which is how I watched it.
What makes it of interest to Screen Anarchy readers? The movies, series, and documentaries invariably align with our genre-focused interest as editors and writers. I'll be aiming to include IFC Films Unlimited titles in our weekly Now Streaming column as well as individual reviews, as time allows.
Now Streaming celebrates independent and international genre films and television shows that are newly available on legal streaming services.
