James Gunn Admits 3 'Superman' Scenes Caused Arguments at DC

James Gunn had to put his foot down over a few key Superman scenes when discussing the final cut with DC Studios filmmakers. Along with the responsibilities of bringing a massive new cinematic universe to life, Gunn took on directing and writing duties for multiple projects, including the first solo film for the Man of Steel. Even considering his place in the studio hierarchy, there seemed to be plenty he had to fight for in his movie.

Speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn revealed multiple scenes from Superman that were "heatedly debated" about during the movie's editing process. Coming to theaters with a 2-hour-9-minute runtime, DC Studios' first movie delivered a thrilling story from start to finish, giving fans one of the longer superhero movies of the last few years. However, not everything in this film's runtime seemed to get an instant thumbs up from studio higher-ups.

4 Superman Movie Moments That Caused Debate Among James Gunn & DC Creatives

Saving the Squirrel

In one of Superman's first fights in Metropolis against the giant fire-breathing kaiju monster, the creature's tail almost crushes a small squirrel. Superman then flies in to save the squirrel after saving a lady and flying her to a rooftop. However, this squirrel moment caused plenty of controversy amongst test audiences and studio executives.

Gunn said this moment was "a huge debate," but he put his foot down in saying he kept it because "it's a cute little adorable squirrel" that would have died otherwise:

"Saving the squirrel, heatedly debated. Some audience members [said] 'Why is he saving a squirrel?!' Because it's a cute little adorable squirrel that was about to be crushed by a tail! It wasn’t a small amount of people, a lot of squirrel haters out there, and this is in Los Angeles! Like, Michael Rooker, he eats squirrels, he hunts and eats squirrels. The squirrel was a huge debate."

Guy Gardner's Vulgar Moment

In one of Superman's arguments with Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner, Fillion's hero uses some choice language against the Man of Steel, calling him a wuss. However, while the moment stayed in the movie, it was originally much vulgar when it came to the wording Fillion used.

Gunn confirmed that Guy Gardner initially called Superman "the P-word," saying it got "an enormous laugh" when Superman pointed out that kids were around them:

Gunn: "Another debate was, and this was probably the biggest, the other debate was Guy Gardner didn't call him a wuss in the first part, he called him something else."

Horowitz: "The P-word, I assume."

Gunn: "Yes, and it got an enormous laugh, because he said 'Don't be such a p****.' And this is what was cut, Clark goes, 'Hey! There are kids here!' And then Guy goes, 'I said don't be,' and then he walks away. So that was a big debate on whether we were gonna keep that word."

Jimmy Olsen's Final Reaction

The last scene Gunn mentions in his interview is from the film's end, where Skylar Gisondo's Jimmy Olsen shares an awkward moment with his unexpected love interest, Sara Sampaio's Eve Teschmacher. As the two reunite following the battle for Metropolis, they share a long embrace, with Jimmy feeling extra uncomfortable the entire time.

Gunn spoke on that moment, noting that he fought hardest to keep this and the Gardner scene in the movie. The director explained how there were "different versions of Eve" that they shot in this scene, calling her "the unsung hero of this movie" as he went through how the scene was changed:

"The other big one was, does Jimmy smile at the end when Eve hugs him? That's the biggest, I think, that one and the P-word. At the end, we had different versions of Eve, and I got them on purpose, so Eve hugs Jimmy, and in one version, he just smiles. And in another version, he just stares into the dark void that goes on forever. And in the third version, he kind of accepts his fate and then he gives in to it and smiles, because she did save the day, she is the unsung hero of this movie. So there were three different versions."

Superman's Robot Name

Another intriguing moment brought up from this movie came in the scene with Superman's Kryptonian robots, one of which was played by DC veteran Alan Tudyk. Specifically, this moment featured Tudyk's Four coming up with a new name for himself, substituting Four for Gary.

Tudyk spoke about this moment at San Diego Comic-Con with The Direct's David Thompson, discussing how Superman had to create multiple versions of this robot until Four became the perfect version of it. Leading star David Corenswet then said Four "should totally have a name," leading Tudyk to come up with Gary on set. The actor then revealed that Gunn said he had countless meetings over that name, debating whether that was the time for a joke to be in the movie:

"I did, I did! It's like, 'Why am I ‘Four'?’ It's a funny reason why he's Four, it's that the first one was kind of bad, so he perfected it into Two, still not so good, and it wasn't until Four that he’s like 'Ok, this is good, this is the leader, this is the one.' But it was like, 'I really would like a name,' and David Corenswet was like, 'Yeah, you should totally have a name!' I said, 'What about Gary?' And James was like, 'I don't know, ok, I guess, let's shoot it.' And we shot it, and I thanked him at the premiere, and he said 'You won't believe how many meetings we had about that name.' He said they went back and forth and back and forth about whether or not that was the time for a joke or should we just be all heart at the end. Luckily, they put it in, it was a heartfelt joke. He loves that robot, that's one of the reasons the robot is so likable, it's because Superman loves him, and he cares about him, so we care about him as an audience."