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James Gunn Bringing the 'Rainn' to the Superhero Genre

by Ethan Anderton
September 11, 2009

Though it took some time for the social networking site Twitter to go mainstream, its always been a great source for overlooked tidbits of info that might be breadcrumbs that lead to something bigger.  One of these instances has just come to fruition as Variety now reports that Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, and Liv Tyler will star in the James Gunn (seen above right) written and directed flick Super. Our friends at SlashFilm picked up on this pitch back in March when Wilson wrote about it on his Twitter page. At the time, Wilson described the movie as an "f'ed up low rent Watchmen," but there's a bit more to the whole story now.

More specifically the comedy takes shots at the superhero genre in a story that follows an average man's path to becoming a pseudo-superhero known as the Crimson Bolt after his wife is charmed by a sneaky drug dealer. But with no real superpowers, the Crimson Bolt takes to swinging around a wrench to dispose of his enemies. Wilson will take on the role of this makeshift hero, with Tyler taking on the role of his wife. No details were given on Page's character at this time, but we can assume she'll spice up the plot some way.

Though Gunn only just made his feature directing debut with the 2006 tongue-in-cheek horror film Slither, hesalso wrote 2004's Dawn of the Dead as well as both live action Scooby-Doo films. But if that doesn't inspire confidence in you, he's also recently made waves on the Internet with a hilarious series of comedic shorts known as PG Porn featuring real adult film stars paired with actors like Nathan Fillion (Serenity) and Craig Robinson (Zack and Miri Make Porno).

I really hope that Gunn can successfully bring his unique brand of humor to the superhero genre. With all the comic book/superhero flicks out there, I don't think anyone has quite gotten their finger on a good blend of comedy and superhero action. Fantastic Four had a couple failed attempts, and though Hancock was certainly a step in the right direction, it never quite found its footing.  Hopefully Gunn and Wilson can join forces to knock this one out of the park when production starts in December and they'll keep us updated on Twitter, I'm sure. Stay tuned for other casting details or announcements related to Super.  Sound good?

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