Superman Goes Kaiju—James Gunn's Cinematic Sabotage
James Gunn is going off-script—and DC's future might just hinge on a rampaging kaiju with a chip on its shoulder. In a reality-bending twist, Gunn revealed in a Cinema Today interview that the 2023 Japanese mega-hit Godzilla Minus One is the blueprint for his upcoming Superman. Let that sink in: the Man of Steel, inspired not by other caped icons, but by a radioactive dinosaur with daddy issues and a penchant for flattening Tokyo. Twitter? Losing its mind.
But Gunn isn't just borrowing Godzilla's atomic breath. He's gunning (pun mandatory) for Minus One's secret sauce—a gritty, human drama pulsing beneath the spectacle. “My goal was to make a film like Godzilla Minus One, which depicted Godzilla but also had great human drama. There is a human story at the root,” Gunn said. Translation: expect a world where Superman's optimism body slams a reality that doesn't give a damn.
Kaiju in Krypton's Backyard
Yes, there will be a kaiju. A Kaiju, in a Superman movie. (Go ahead, re-read that—teh coffee isn't broken.) Gunn himself is on record: “特撮から影響を受けています (I'm influenced by tokusatsu).” The trailer, toy leaks, and Gunn's nostalgia for Ultraman and Kamen Rider all point to this: Superman will battle a rampaging monster, breathing fire and crushing skyscrapers like a TikTok trend. Kaiju-pocalypse, meet the Daily Planet. Boom.
But the kaiju's not the main event; Gunn wants us staring at Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor, caught in a three-way emotional smackdown. “The relationship between Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Lex Luther is the core of the work,” Gunn emphasized. It's Godzilla Minus One by way of Smallville—painfully human, uncomfortably honest.
Been There, Nuked That? Hollywood's Monster Addiction
We've seen Hollywood do the Monster Mash (looking at you, Pacific Rim, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Rampage), but Gunn's pivot is new—turning Superman into a flawed everyman against the end times. The real precedent: Japanese cinema's obsession with using kaiju to probe national trauma (Shin Godzilla, Godzilla Minus One). Yet this isn't some hollow remake. Unlike Legendary's bombastic carnage, Gunn wants to hurt you—right in the feelings.
If you're wondering how “serious” the influence is, Gunn's in rare company—Spielberg, Nolan, and Del Toro all raved about Minus One. This isn't just a fanboy moment; it's a genre cross-pollination. Hollywood, say hello to your new radioactive muse.
“A crew member whispered: ‘Gunn made us watch Kaiju movies on lunch break. Now everyone screams “Mothra!” before takes.'” (Take that as you will.)
Judgment Day
So. Genius or kaiju-grade disaster? Gunn's Superman promises atomic spectacle with a radioactive dose of humanity. Audiences will either call it “genre-redefining” or wish for a good old-fashioned CGI mustache.
Would you buy a ticket—or storm DC Studios with pitchforks and nostalgia? No pressure. But secretly, we all want to see Superman wrestle a kaiju.
