Before James Gunn Took on ‘Superman’, He Produced This Surprisingly Gnarly Superhero Thriller
If you enjoyed James Gunn’s sunny, wholesome reboot of the Man of Steel, but found yourself craving a supe with a bit more bite, we’ve got you covered. Here is your official reminder that Gunn’s Superman roots grew through something nastier, gnarlier, and darker—Brightburn. The 2019 “what if Superman was evil?” horror flick flies onto Peacock this month, and if you like your capes soaked in blood and moral panic, it’s a perfect counter-programming double-feature to Gunn’s new, hopeful take on Kal-El.
Gunn’s 2025 Superman reboot landed as a warm reminder of where the original DC Comics character came from. Integrating elements from the comics, as well as the original Christopher Reeve Superman movie run, Gunn’s playful, emotional, and surprisingly charming version of the hero leaned into heart and hope more than doom and dread. In short, it’s built to make you root for the good guy.
Now rewind six years. Brightburn asks the exact opposite question of Superman’s origin story. What if the child from Krypton didn’t use his powers for good, but used them for evil instead? And, Brightburn doesn’t pull its punches when it comes to exploring this idea. Starring Elizabeth Banks (Skincare), David Denman (Rebel Ridge), and Jackson A. Dunn (Avengers: Endgame), Brightburn delivers full-on horror melded with superhero spectacle. If Superman is about saving the world, Brightburn is about burning it down.
What makes the comparisons between Brightburn and Superman (2025) fascinating is the connective creative tissue between these two very different movies. Not only did James Gunn write and direct our new hunky Clark Kent retro-adventure, but he was also a producer on Brightburn. So before he was steering the new DCU’s tone, he’d lent his name (and his superhero-savvy sensibilities) to a movie that deliberately subverts the genre’s moral core.
Now, if you skipped this one the first time around or haven’t revisited it in a while, I would personally encourage taking Brightburn for another spin. In its own way, Brightburn feels very much like a Gunn-family affair, where they took a casual, ‘what if’ backyard conversation to the silver screen. For one, the screenplay was penned by Brian and Mark Gunn, James Gunn’s brother and cousin. It was also directed by David Yarovesky (Locked), a longtime Gunn family friend and collaborator.
As a certified horror hound, Yarovesky always intended Brightburn to channel classic horror elements. In a 2019 Slashfilm interview, Yarovesky expounded on this, saying, “What would it be like to shoot a superhero in a scary way? Can you shoot a superhero how John Carpenter would shoot Michael Myers? Wide-angle, him watching from a distance. That was the first thought in my mind, and things just grew from there. What are the tropes of a superhero story, and then how do you tell it through a horror lens?”
It is this vision and playful inquiry that make Brightburn something worth exploring. That, and some killer kills. Here, capes and heat vision become instruments of terror rather than justice (I’m looking at you, Homelander). It also leans hard into practical, stomach-turning effects and brutality, swapping the uplifting moral center of the typical origin story for a relentless, morally muddy thrill ride. It’s a grim “nature vs. nurture” experiment where one ultimately overrides the other, with tragic consequences.
And while James Gunn’s name sits on both movies, the tonal DNA could not be more different. Where one is an ode to hope and heroics, the other is a gnarly fever dream of superpower-enhanced adolescent cruelty. Now streaming on Peacock, cue it up as the perfect late-evening palate cleanser if you just watched Gunn’s Superman and need to reset your moral compass. The tonal whiplash is delightful.
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