As the cast of Superman: Legacy continues to expand, there's been a lot of chatter online about the movie being too "crowded." The reboot is going to introduce the DCU's new Man of Tomorrow but the hero will find himself surrounded by characters like Green Lantern, Metamorpho, and potentially even Supergirl.
That doesn't sound too different from a lot of superhero movies, but some feel filmmaker James Gunn should focus solely on Superman. However, the reboot is also our introduction to DC Studios' DCU and, if anyone knows how to handle large ensembles, it's the writer and director behind The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Gunn recently answered some questions on Threads, clarifying his stance on the size of Superman: Legacy's cast. "The whole point was it’s NOT a large film - I mean, not in terms of cast," he explained. "It’s normal for single protagonist films to have other characters - much more unusual for them not to."
The filmmaker went on to reveal why he takes issue with some superhero movies leaning too heavily on what he'd describe as "cameo porn."
"I call that 'Cameo Porn' and it has been one of the worst elements of recent superhero films," he said of what a fan described as the genre's tendency to '[have a] character appear on screen for 10 seconds to mark a checkbox.' Gunn added, "If a character is in film, they have to have a reason to be there story-wise."
"I don’t mind actual cameos - if it’s a glimpse or a moment, an Easter egg," he continued. "What bothers me is when they mangle an elegant story by shoehorning characters in - they aren’t there because the story calls for it, but for some other reason."
"[It's] fine if it doesn’t disrupt the story. It’s the plot contrivances that develop from a cameo, not the cameo itself."
Gunn isn't wrong and Marvel Studios' recent movies have suffered badly from "cameo porn." That's evident from the blink-and-you'd-miss-them cameos from major characters like Hercules, Eros, and, heck, even all those Kang Variants in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania! On the DC side, it was a problem for The Flash as well.
Elsewhere in this brief Q&A, Gunn said Mr. Terrific is the character he's most excited for fans to see in Superman: Legacy and revealed that Watchmen is his favourite DC comic book.
What are your thoughts about "cameo porn" in superhero movies? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.