James Gunn refused to cut Superman's squirrel scene
In the new blockbuster, the Man of Steel - played by David Corenswet - is shown rescuing a squirrel while the city of Metropolis is being attacked by a giant monster and the 58-year-old director has admitted it was one of the movie's "most hotly debated" scenes but he decided to keep it in the film despite guests at test screenings declaring they "did not like the squirrel".
Gunn told Rolling Stone magazine: "It was probably the second- or third-most hotly debated moment in the movie.
"Because we showed it to test audiences and some people did not like the squirrel.
"They're like: 'Why the f*** is he saving a squirrel? Why is he taking time out, saving a squirrel?' There was a cut where I cut it out and I'm like: 'I really miss the squirrel. He's gotta save the squirrel.'
"In addition, there were also some geographic problems with where he ended up if I didn't have him fly over with the squirrel. So I put the squirrel back in despite the protestations of some of my people on my crew."
The moviemaker expanded on the squirrel controversy in an interview with The New York Times, explaining: "A lot of people were anti-squirrel. They thought it was too much. And I think it really comes down to, do you like squirrels or not? ...
"I love squirrels. If a monster's tail was coming at the squirrel, I would save the squirrel if I could. I've done it before: Every day, I'm honking at squirrels on the road."
He added of test screenings: "When you test movies, almost always, especially in the early test screenings, one of the main questions they ask is: 'Is it too slow? Is it too fast? Is it just right?'
"And my movies have always had an overabundance of 'too fast' compared to 'too slow'. Because I'm not indulgent.
"I just don't give a s*** about my little precious moments that are so important to me in making a movie. I want to create something that's as streamlined as possible, and if that means I go too fast, sometimes I do. And so it really is about pulling back."
Leading man Corenswet also recently opened up about the squirrel scene - insisting it was good for the film to show the smaller moments.
During an interview on Phase Hero, he explained: "In movies, a lot of the time, you cut over, you cut out that stuff, you cut out the boring stuff, and you just skip to the exciting bits.
"And in real life, you know that they're they're these, these this, this commitment and this stamina that, that, that actually saves the day.
"So, it was fun to get to play with that in the movie of just Superman has to keep putting on his boots and going to work and you don't just cut to the most exciting save.
"You also see that he's got to get the squirrel out of the tree so the squirrel doesn't get smushed."
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