James Gunn Explains How TOP GUN: MAVERICK Inspired His Vision for SUPERMAN
When Richard Donner’s Superman hit theaters in 1978, it carried the iconic tagline: “You’ll believe a man can fly.” Donner’s boundary-pushing visual effects set the bar for cinematic superheroes, leaving audiences awestruck.
All these years later, the superhero genre has evolved dramatically, with CGI, green-screen technology, motion capture, and AI making almost anything imaginable possible.
We are living in a time of filmmaker where digital effects can feel routine, but James Gunn is reimagining how Superman takes flight, and he looked to Top Gun: Maverick for inspiration for his new Superman movie.
Gunn revealed how the visceral, in-your-face aerial action of Top Gun:Maverick played a key role in shaping his approach.
Gunn explained to CB: “I wrote up this big document on action and what our philosophy is of action and how we shoot it... keeping it alive in the air, as well as on the ground.”
What makes this particularly challenging, Gunn noted, is that even with his previous films like Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad aerial action has always been difficult to get right.
However, Maverick’s immersive use of practical effects offered him a way forward. “We took a lot from films like Top Gun: Maverick,” Gunn said. “We’re shooting flying things… we shoot a lot of our action with actual drones flying in and around Superman and the people that he’s flying with… and we did that on sound stages.”
Gunn promises the results will bring Superman’s iconic flights to life in an unprecedented way. Thanks to “really small, crazy drones” and a team of some of the best drone pilots in the world, Gunn is crafting action sequences that will be incredibly dynamic.
He said: “Everything’s planned out with me, as it always is, but at the same time, I’ve gotten even more into finding new stuff on the set… finding magic where it is.”
The approach is a blend of old-school filmmaking ingenuity and modern technology. Using drones and practical planning is an attempt to stand out and to make audiences feel the thrill of flight again.
Just as Top Gun: Maverick made audiences believe they were in the cockpit of a jet, Gunn’s Superman may once again make us believe a man can fly.
Superman will tell the story of “Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas.
“He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.”
"It's set in a world very different from ours and far removed from the DCEU. Heroes have been around for ages, and we'll see how it affected this world's history and has shaped the DCU."
Superman stars David Corenswet as Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane; Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor; Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern; Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl; Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt / Mr. Terrific; Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen; María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica, aka The Engineer; Sara Sampaio, as Eve Teschmacher; and Terence Rosemore as Otis.
Superman will launch the movie part of DC Studios’ Gods and Monsters: Part 1. It’s scheduled for a theatrical release on July 11, 2025.