James Gunn suffers from ‘superhero fatigue’: ‘It gets really boring’

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” director James Gunn admitted that there is “fatigue” surrounding the superhero genre following 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.”

Gunn, 56, gave his take on how it’s difficult to pen films that go beyond the over-the-top action sequences of Marvel movies.

“I think it’s really hard in the wake of the [‘Endgame’] Blip. There’s this worldwide, universe-wide event that happened. And, in truth, everybody would be stark raving mad at this point,” the new co-CEO of DC Studios told Rolling Stone in a recent profile.

“So it’s hard to write stories in the wake of that. Which is why the ‘Guardians’ movies have been easier, because they’re set outside of that a little bit,” said Gunn, who added that he does “really want Marvel to keep making good movies.”

The Missouri native directed and wrote the upcoming installment of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy, as well as its two previous films in the space franchise.

He then noted that while “there is such a thing as superhero fatigue,” he believes that it has nothing to do with the people wearing the capes themselves.

The “Peacemaker” showrunner revealed that it, in fact, has to do with “the kind of stories that get to be told,” as well as the “characters.”

“We love Superman. We love Batman. We love Iron Man. Because they’re these incredible characters that we have in our hearts. And if it becomes just a bunch of nonsense onscreen, it gets really boring,” Gunn pointed out.

He also expressed that he’s exhausted from viewing “spectacle films” and movies that don’t have an “emotionally grounded story.”

He then clarified that his point doesn’t have anything to do with whether the projects are superhero movies or not.

He explained that if one doesn’t have “a story at the base” of an action flick, then just “watching things bash each other, no matter how clever those bashing moments are, no matter how clever the designs and the VFX are, it just gets fatiguing, and I think that’s very, very real.”

Gunn will take a break from the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the near future and will be scripting his next project, “Superman Legacy.”

He also told “Rolling Stone” how his new feature will be very dissimilar to “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

“I learned so much from making the [Marvel] movies,” Gunn said. “But it’s not like ‘Superman’ is going to have exactly the same vibe as a ‘Guardians’ movie. It’s actually quite different.”

The DC flick is set to be released on July 11, 2025, and will focus on the Man of Steel/Clark Kent learning to balance his Kryptonian ancestry and his childhood being raised with humans.