James Gunn Doesn’t Want to See Origin Stories for 3 Specific Heroes Ever Again

In contemporary society, it’s widely accepted that everyone has their preferred superheroes, yet there’s little debate over which ones have left an indelible mark on popular culture. To this day, Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man continue to stand atop the pantheon of iconic comic book superheroes. Over the years and across various media platforms, these three characters have been reimagined more times than any other heroes. According to director James Gunn, who’s worked on Superman projects and is involved with DC Universe, we’ve seen their origin stories portrayed so frequently on screen that it may no longer be necessary to retell them in films again. Here’s what he recently shared with The Times about this topic:

I don’t want to witness the murder of Batman’s parents happening in a dark alley, I don’t want to observe Spider-Man getting bitten by a radioactive spider, and I don’t desire to watch baby Kal-El arriving on Earth from Krypton inside a small spaceship.

It appears that recent adaptations have chosen to omit the origin stories for certain characters, such as Spider-Man in “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, Batman in “The Batman”, and potentially Superman. This is because audiences are presumed to be familiar with these characters’ backstories due to previous iterations over the past decade.

It’s likely that the origin stories of these characters will return to our screens at some point, despite Gunn’s preferences. This is because a new Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man movie could be someone’s introduction, particularly for newer generations. However, with the abundance of movies and TV shows over the past few decades, their origin stories have been extensively covered. These tales are now deeply ingrained in our collective consciousness, especially when it comes to Batman.

As a fan, I’m curious about the strategy the Fantastic Four is adopting in their MCU debut, similar to Superman. Although their previous films didn’t achieve massive success, it’s debatable if audiences are already familiar with their origin story. We’ll see how this “no origin story” approach unfolds for both Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

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2025-07-09 17:02