James Gunn slams 'lazy' superhero movies of recent years

DC Studios head of creative James Gunn believes that filmmakers have become "lazy" with the constant movie adaptations of comic books.

The Superhero movie boom started in the early 2000s with the release of X-Men and Spider-Man, but it wasn't until the Marvel Cinematic Universe found its feet that we started to get dozens of comic book adaptations, whether in television or in movies, each year.

What are the top 10 most popular shows on Amazon Prime right now?

Tuesday 10 February 2026, 14:38

What are the top 10 most popular shows on Netflix right now?

Monday 9 February 2026, 15:27

When you combine that with DC Comics' attempts to create their own, similar, universe, then audiences have been bombarded with superhero films in recent years.

Gunn, who in 2022 was appointed in a new executive role at DC Studios for Warner Bros, believes these stories are being adapted into movies for the sake of it with no real care shown for the characters.

“People have gotten really lazy with their superhero stories,” the Guardians of the Galaxy director said on the Inside of You podcast.

“And they have gotten to the place where, ‘Oh, it’s a superhero, let’s make a movie about it.’ And then, ‘Oh, let’s make a sequel, because the first one did pretty well,’ and they aren’t thinking about, ‘Why is this story special? What makes this story stand apart from other stories? What is the story at the heart of it all? Why is this character important? What makes this story different that it fills a need for people in theatres to go see?’

READ MORE: Harry Styles will likely not return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

“People have gotten a little lazy and there’s a lot of biff, pow, bam stuff happening in movies and I’m watching third acts of superhero films where I really just don’t feel like there’s a rhyme or reason to what’s happening… I don’t care about the characters. And they’ve gotten too generic.

“I like very serious superhero movies, and I like very comedic superhero movies,  like ones that are a murder mystery but it’s with superheroes. I like to see these different types of stories, as opposed to seeing the same story told over and over again.”

Gunn's comments come after DC's latest feature, The Flash, bombed at the box office.

After being appointed in his executive role at Warner Bros, Gunn scrapped sequel plans for Black Adam and Wonder Woman and also informed Henry Cavill that he would not play Superman again despite returning in a cameo for Black Adam.