Superman: Legacy Director James Gunn Reveals His Favorite Comic Book Movies

Comics are a medium, not a genre, with a lot more than just corporate superhero stories being told in their pages every month. That philosophy is on display in a new conversation between Esquire magazine and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn. Speaking with the magazine in support of his new film Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, Gunn gave the magazine a rundown of his all-time favorite comic book-to-film adaptations. Mixed in with three superhero movies (at least two of which you probably could have predicted), Gunn included a pair of critically-acclaimed films that many don’t even know were originally based on comics and graphic novels.

Gunn’s list, from 5 to 1, is Deadpool, Oldboy, A History of Violence, Superman: The Movie, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The filmmaker’s top spot might surprise some, but he notes that besides being the first real big-budget comics multiverse movie, and set the stage for much of what’s to come.

You can see the full video below.

“I think Deadpool is a perfect adaptation of a comic book because the comic book is very much tongue in cheek, breaking the fourth wall all the time, talking to the audience,” Gunn said. “I think the movie does that really well but somehow also keeps it more grounded and gives it more heart than the comics have.”

Oldboy, which got an American remake starring Guardians of the Galaxy franchise star Pom Klementieff, comes in next, with Gunn noting that the movie ushered in a new era in Korean cinema, and that it has some of the best action in any movie, ever. He particularly called out the hallway fight scene that, for many viewers, defines the movie’s style, and notes that it’s been copied and homaged many times, including in his own films The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3. 

With A History of Violence, Gunn praised director David Cronenberg, who made the movie one of the most acclaimed films of the year when it came out. Like many, Gunn didn’t know that the movie was based on a graphic novel until later, allowing him to go in and take it at face value and not compare it to the comic as it was unspooling. 

“It’s a really amazing movie about a guy who’s a former killer who’s trying to live this normal life, and gets wrapped up in his past,” Gunn explained. 

Fun fact: A History of Violence was the last Hollywood movie to get a wide commercial release on VHS.

Superman: The Movie is obviously the movie that set the stage for all the superhero films to go past it, and Gunn describes it as “the next big, magical movie” after Star Wars when he was growing up, noting that he saw the film at the same local cinema that DC President and publisher Jim Lee did, since they both grew up in and around St. Louis.

And in the #1 spot, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Gunn said the film “works from start to finish. It does not have a bad beat in it. The action’s amazing, the emotion’s amazing, the voice acting is incredible. It’s well-directed, well-written, and I just don’t think there’s been a better superhero movie than Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”

Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 is in theaters now. You’ll have to wait until 2025 to see Superman: Legacy.