'Superman' director James Gunn addresses 'Superwoke' backlash for his movie
"I've heard people say it was woke, and then I've heard a lot of people say it's not," Gunn told Entertainment Weekly. "I am curious as to what in the movie is considered woke."
Gunn recalled the original interview for the "London newspaper" The Sunday Times when he said that "Superman is the story of America," describing it as "an immigrant that came from other places and populated the country."
Gunn said that the reporter was the one who first remarked that Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were the sons of immigrants and that the character was written as an immigrant story.
"I said, yeah, it's a story about an immigrant, but mostly it's a story to me about kindness, which it is. That's the center of the movie for me," Gunn said.
He added, "That's the thing we can all act upon, is kindness. And so what does that lead to? Well, does that lead to the way you vote? Sure. Does that lead to everything? Yeah. Does it lead to how many people are dying from road rage? Yes. All those things are affected if people just start to value kindness. I mean, people did value kindness in the past. That was an American value, was kindness, and it doesn't necessarily seem to be that way to me anymore. So that was always the center of the movie for me, and it wasn't about anything other than that."
The character, first introduced in 1938, was born from the imagination of writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster in Cleveland, Ohio. In the comics, Superman is the sole survivor of the planet Krypton, sent to Earth by his parents as their world faced destruction.
Gunn faced backlash for his original comments, which were made just days before his "Superman" movie was released on July 11 and at the height of national discussion on the ongoing immigration raids throughout the country.
In the same interview with The Sunday Times, he emphasized that his movie was about politics but that it was mostly about kindness and morality.
"And obviously, there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness. But screw them," Gunn remarked.
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9 Celebrities Who Died In Strange, Mysterious Ways
It's always been fascinating to me how, as a celebrity or public figure, you can live your whole life under the microscope of for your death to be shrouded in mystery, and — in some cases — still unsolved decades later. Or, like others, you become famous because of your death, only reaching the goal of celebrity when you're no longer able to bask in it. Recently, I came across a thread on Reddit where u/the_last_lemurian asked people to share celebrity deaths that were so mysterious, people spent literal hours thinking about them. Based on their suggestions, I spent hours going down rabbit holes myself, summarizing these cases of strange, mysterious, or unsolved celebrity deaths that I, too, cannot get out of my head now. Here are nine of the strangest, most fascinating, and most-suggested celebrity deaths they shared: George Reeves (1914–1959). Reeves, best known for playing the titular character in Adventures of Superman, died on June 16 from a gunshot wound to the head. Officially, it was ruled as a suicide, but in conjunction with a lack of evidence, suspicious circumstances, and contradictory witness reports, his friend Rory Calhoun reportedly said, "No one in Hollywood believed the suicide story." On the night of his death, Reeves and his fiancé, Leonore Lemmon, had been out drinking, and Reeves went to bed as Lemmon invited friends over. Reeves was said to have come downstairs to ask the group to quiet down, and as he left, Lemmon reportedly joked that he was "going upstairs to shoot himself." The group heard a noise coming from upstairs but didn't immediately check it. Here is where the inconsistencies begin. Despite the apparent suicide, no fingerprints — not even Reeves's — were found on the gun, and Reeves didn't have gunpowder on his hands. Additionally, Lemmon and her friends only reported hearing one bang, but there were three bullets found at the scene, as well as a casing whose placement wasn't consistent with a suicide. Pictured: Lenore Lemmon (left) Despite the ruling, three main theories came to be: that Reeves was depressed about a lack of roles post-Superman and killed himself, that it was a drunken accident and Lemmon killed him, and that it was a planned murder in relation to an affair he had reportedly had with actor Toni Mannix. "The fact that he played such a beloved character like Superman but was found dead under such mysterious circumstances makes you wonder if it really was a suicide or if it was something more sinister. Like, imagine if tomorrow they found Chris Evans dead by a gun that doesn't have his fingerprints on it, with no gunshot residue on his hands, and it's just ruled a suicide? That would be wild."—sun4restYou can read more about his death here. Natalie Wood (1938–1981). On Nov. 30, 1981, Wood's body was found off the coast of Santa Catalina Island, where she'd been vacationing with her husband, Robert Wagner, her Brainstorm costar Christopher Walken, and friend/captain, Dennis Davern, on a yacht. The West Side Story actor — who was said to be "famously terrified of dark water," was found floating about 200m away from a motorized dinghy in the early hours of the morning. Initially, reports assumed the death was accidental; however, the story got much more complicated over the years as stories and timelines changed with new information. Per Wagner's memoir, Pieces of My Heart, he claims he, Wood, and Walken returned to the boat that night at around 10 after wining and dining on land. Witnesses said the trio was visibly intoxicated. Back on the boat, Davern said Wagner smashed a bottle in front of Wood and Walken "out of the clear blue," asking, "What are you tryin' to do, f--- my wife?" The Rebel Without a Cause actor reportedly left and went to her room, with her husband following, where they began arguing. Davern claimed it sounded as though it could be physical, and said they continued out on the back of the boat. This information came years after Wood's death. Davern shared this with investigators in 2011, which reopened the case and brought Wagner back into question. In 2012, her cause of death was amended from accidental drowning to "drowning and other undetermined factors." Nonetheless, after years of additional investigation, Wagner was cleared, and the case was left open and unsolved. Pictured: Wagner (left) and Wood (right)Suggested by: Toxicity246"Christopher Walken KNOWS SOMETHING."—Longjumping-Ant-77"[The boat] was around 60 feet, and on a boat that size, you can hear everything that is going on. A huge fight would have been heard, as would have the sudden silence of the fight ending. Robert's actions seem very suspicious. But we will never know, unless Christopher talks, which he won't."—NoneThere's so much information and speculation around this case that it truly could be its own article and is by no means all covered in this brief summary. If you'd like to read more about it, you can start here and here. Brittany Murphy (1977–2009). On Dec. 20, 2009, the 32-year-old Uptown Girls star collapsed on her bathroom floor and just hours later, was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in LA. Her coroner's report later showed pneumonia as her cause of death, and listed anemia and multiple drug intoxication as "contributing factors." Following her death, both her mother and her husband, Simon Monjack, made a rather strange appearance together on Larry King Live. Further, Murphy had lived with the two of them while she was alive, and they continued to live together in her home after her death. This, fueled by Monjack's criminal history and track record of abusive behavior toward his exes, created tons of conspiracy theories around what actually happened to the Clueless star. A majority of theories surrounding her death center around some kind of poisoning, be it accidentally from mold or intentionally by her mother or husband (often suggested to be linked to a desire for Murphy's wealth or an alleged affair between the two). Theories only grew wilder when, less than six months after Murphy's death, her husband died of the same causes. Suggested by: bluntbiz and Dougalface. You can read more about her death here. Michael Rockefeller (1938-????). At 23 years old, Rockefeller disappeared while traveling to Dutch New Guinea (now West Papua). The son of the then-New York City governor had been traveling for seven months already when his boat capsized, sending him and his travel companion René Wassing into the Betsj River. While two others they traveled with — who were native to the region and familiar with the hostility of the river — made it to shore to find aid, Rockefeller and Wassing stayed atop the overturned boat. Rockefeller was reportedly worried they would float into the open ocean with even less of a chance of survival, so he attached a make-shift flotation device to his belt and jumped in. The swim to shore was estimated to be somewhere between three and ten miles. Wassing stayed behind and was rescued the following morning by search parties. Two weeks' worth of search parties scoured the region, though he was never found, dead or alive. Pictured: Wassing This disappearance, of course, created a breeding ground for theories as to how specifically he met his demise. Some are simple and straightforward, like drowning. Others suggest Rockefeller abandoned society and joined the Asmat tribe that called the region home, claiming to have photographic evidence of a white man amongst them. Others, however, believe Rockefeller sought help from the Otsjanep (a subgroup of the Asmats) when he reached land and was ultimately killed and eaten by them. You can read more about his disappearance by: laufsteakmodel Elizabeth Short (1924–1947). Also posthumously known as "The Black Dahlia," Short was a 22-year-old aspiring actress when her body was found on a "barely developed" Los Angeles street, naked, bloodless, sliced in half, and positioned like a mannequin. Per BBC, "she had been mutilated, her intestines removed, and her mouth slashed from ear to ear." Her case, unfortunately, remains unsolved to this day. There are tons of theories involving Short's death, which range greatly due to the sheer lack of information. The FBI speculates that her killer might've worked in or studied medicine, given the precision of her dissection, and students at USC Medical School at the time were looked into. For similar reasons, they also could've been a butcher, though neither lane led them anywhere in the end. In what they hoped would be a breakthrough, investigators got an anonymous letter from the potential murderer with fingerprints on it, though they weren't a match to any in their database at the time. Suggested by: robj57You can read more about her murder here. Elliott Smith (1969–2003). On Oct. 21, 2003, Smith and his girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba, were fighting in their LA apartment when he threatened to kill himself. This wasn't something out of the blue for Smith, and so Chiba reportedly locked herself in the bathroom in the heat of their she heard a scream. She unlocked the door to find a kitchen knife lodged in his chest, stabbing him right in the heart. He died just 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital. While an apparent suicide note reading "I'm sorry, love, Elliott. God forgive me." was found on a sticky note, Smith's death was still considered suspicious for many reasons, and investigators struggled with whether to rule it a suicide or a murder. First and foremost, a stab to the heart is one of the rarest and most painful ways to commit suicide, though that didn't make it impossible for him to have done so. What was unusual, however, was that Smith had no "hesitation wounds," or initial, shallower cuts typically inflicted before the final wound, and had small, potential self-defense wounds. Further, Chiba had reportedly removed the knife from his body and, though she personally denied this, it was reported that she refused to speak to detectives initially. While some may blame his suicide on his drug addiction or depression, Smith was reportedly doing well in the time leading up to his death and had been clean. No substances aside from his prescribed medications for depression and ADHD were found in his system at the time of his death. That's not to say his lifelong depression — which, along with his addiction, were often topics of his music — couldn't have played a major role in his potential some friends and colleagues of Smith claimed that his relationship with Chiba was nowhere near as peaceful as others had made it out to be, reporting constant fighting, breaking up, and tense feelings between the two (and Chiba's band) as collaborators. Others, however, countless theories, as of 2003 the case remains open with the by Zukez, interprime, and obi-sean. You can read more about it here. Anton Yelchin (1989–2016). The Star Trek actor died in June of 2016 in a freak accident in which he was pinned between his fence and mailbox on his Los Angeles property by his 2015 Jeep Cherokee. The car had been recalled just months earlier for having confusing gear shifters that had, on more than one occasion, caused the vehicle to roll off. This, too, was believed to have been the cause of his death. Per the lawsuit, he "was crushed and lingered alive for some time, trapped and suffocating until his death." Suggested by: DaveDavidsen. You can read more about his death here. Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962). The 36-year-old Hollywood icon's death in August of 1962 is shrouded in mystery and conspiracy, even all these decades later. This, of course, includes the events leading up to her death. Per a 1962 Los Angeles Times article, the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes star's psychiatrist broke into her room at 3:30 in the morning and found her naked, facedown, and "clutching a telephone receiver" in bed. She had reportedly already been dead for somewhere between six to eight hours due to an "apparent overdose of sleeping pills," and investigators were uncertain whether it was accidental or a suicide. A second timeline of events was proposed in the documentary The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, based on "hundreds of interviews," aimed to get to the bottom of inconsistencies in the original story. It suggested that — per the word of several paramedics and the wife of Monroe's PR manager — it was actually known that Monroe was unwell hours earlier (10:30 p.m. the night before), and that she was taken in the ambulance alive and died on the way to the hospital. Regardless, the reason for her death — and whether it was accidental, a suicide, or a staged homicide — remains a mystery. There are probably hundreds of conspiracy theories surrounding the nature of it all, from her romantic entanglements with JFK and Robert Kennedy to CIA involvement over fear of her harboring Communist connections. "She had been sleeping with some very elite people, who knew some very elite information."—prettyvoidofevilYou can read more about her death here, as well as the aforementioned documentary here. And finally, Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849). On the 27th of September, Poe left Richmond, Virginia, for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for an editing job. never made it there. Nor was he seen in New York, where he lived. He wasn't found at all, in fact, for almost a week. When the legendary author did turn up once again, he was in Baltimore, Maryland. It was Oct. 3, four days before his death. Poe was found lying in the gutter of Gunner's Hall tavern, delirious, disheveled, and dressed in someone else's clothing. His friends assumed him to be drunk, so he was sent to Washington College Hospital to recover. While there, he drifted in and out of consciousness, covered in sweat and talking to seemingly imaginary things nobody else could see. He was unable to adequately answer the physician's questions and was reported to have repeatedly asked for someone by the name of "Reynolds" on his final day in the hospital. To this day, no one knows who "Reynolds" is. There are loads of theories as to what exactly happened to the Tell-Tale Heart author, from suspicions of carbon monoxide poisoning to rabies. One of the most popular theories, though, is that Poe was "cooped." Cooping was a method 19th-century gangs would use to rig elections by kidnapping people, disguising them, forcing them to vote for their preferred candidate, then "rewarding" them with alcohol, as this occurred during Prohibition. Poe was found on Election Day, and the tavern had been a polling site. He ultimately passed away at the hospital on Oct. 7. While the theory definitely carries its weight, unfortunately, we will likely never know for certain what happened to Poe that by: Rigistroni and Blametheorangejuice. You can read more about Poe's death here. Do you love all things scary, dark, and creepy? Subscribe to the That Got Dark newsletter to get your weekly dopamine fix of the macabre delivered RIGHT to your inbox!
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‘Fantastic Four: First Steps' Box Office Projections Far Below ‘Superman' Opening
"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" cropped poster. Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps is projected to have a big opening, but it's not expected to be nearly as mighty as Superman's debut two weeks ago. Directed by Matt Shakman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps plays in Thursday previews before opening worldwide on Friday. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is projected by Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety to open anywhere between $100 million to $110 million this weekend at 4,100 North American theaters for a No. 1 debut at the domestic box office. By contrast, DC Studios' Superman starring David Corenswet in the title role opened at No. 1 domestically with $125 million in its first Friday to Sunday frame from roughly the same number of theaters. Per The Numbers, Superman pulled in $125 million from 4,135 theaters domestically against a $225 million production budget before prints and advertising. While The Fantastic Four: First Steps' exact budget number hasn't been released, Variety reported that the film cost above $200 million to make before P&A. For the time being, the pressure on James Gunn and Peter Safran's new reign at DC Studios has slightly abated thanks to Superman's performance globally. As of Tuesday, the film has earned $243.1 million domestically and $173 million internationally for a running worldwide box office tally of $416.2 million to date. Meanwhile, Deadline is projecting The Fantastic Four: First Steps to earn $90 million to $100 million worldwide Friday through Sunday. If the trade publication's domestic projection holds, that means the latest tale in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe could end the weekend with a worldwide gross of anywhere from $190 million to $210 million. What Is 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps About? The official summary for the movie reads, 'Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel's First Family — Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) — as they face their most daunting challenge yet. 'Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus' plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren't bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.' One big positive for The Fantastic Four: First Steps heading into the weekend is that it marks the first time a Fantastic Four film has been met with positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes critics, otherwise, have blasted the four previous Fantastic Four movies produced in 1994, 2005, 2007 and 2015, respectively. The Fantastic Four: First Steps marks the third MCU release from Disney and Marvel Studios this year, following Captain America: Brave New World, which was released on Feb. 14 and Thunderbolts*, which kicked off the Summer 2025 movie season on May 2. Both films fell far short in their bids for box office glory, with Captain America: Brave New World earning $413.6 million against a $180 million production budget before P&A. Thunderbolts* (aka The New Avengers), meanwhile, has earned $382.1 million worldwide to date against a $180 million production budget before P&A. The Fantastic Four: First Steps plays in Thursday previews before opening in theaters worldwide on Friday.
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Burlesque musical review: Christina Aquilera show is a true spectacle
Burlesque musical review: ★★★★ Was Burlesque going to be the worst musical of the year? Headlines suggest chaos: the director and choreographer exited the production weeks before the West End opening, and the late arrival of costumes forced the actors' union Equity to put out a statement about a 'number of issues,' including to do with unpaid invoices. Who stepped in as director? Todrick Hall, the controversial performer who, amongst other things, was criticised for insensitive behaviour during his stint on Celebrity Big Brother. But the Burlesque musical does not project the chaos of its production – running at two hours fifty minutes, it feels pacey, high-octane, and often funny, and is more slathered than sprinkled with incredibly eye-catching performances. Burlesque: Everyone's here for the production, which delivers Inspired by the 2010 movie starring Christina Aquilera and Cher, the West End iteration includes a touching new plotline that brings its subjects emotionally closer together. It follows Ali Rose, a small town girl who travels to New York where she lands a job in a struggling burlesque bar. Owner Tess has an old-fashioned mindset but club MC Sean helps Ali climb the ranks and potentially save the venue from closure. The plotting feels thin and becomes increasingly confusing by act two, but Burlesque as a set of megawatt performances is so strong that you forgive the holes. Gravelly, funny Todrick Hall is particularly good at gluing together the messy parts of Steve Antin's script with warmth and the odd schmaltzy trick (he does the splits then jokes he's too old for it, struggling back up again), firing off his natural charm offensive as Sean. Everyone's here for the production, which delivers. At points, the Burlesque musical feels like a massive Magic Mike production where shimmering torsos are the main characters, but away from the sensation, there is depth; both Hall and American singer-songwriter Orfeh who plays Tess display gravitas; they command when they stand on stage alone and belt. Jess Folley is also incredible as lead Ali, bringing softer power to the role originated by Aquilera. There are new songs by Christina Aguilera, Sia and Diane Warren. Standouts include Jess' solos Got It All From You and Bound To You, and Orfeh is equally majestic on You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me. Choreography by Hall is slick, but there are a few qualms with the staging: an over-reliance on a floor-to-ceiling video screen at the back of the stage shifts the focus out of the universe, and there is perhaps the most tired use of live projected video (filmed on stage during the production) that I have ever seen in a London theatre. The emotional payoff by the curtain also isn't quite what you want, the result of the wobbly script as the second act becomes increasingly confusing. Don't spend too much time worrying about that: this is the messy, chaotic world of burlesque and what matters is the vocals are in order. Book tickets to the Burlesque musical The Burlesque musical runs until 6 September, to book go to Read more: Read more: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
