Let me say up front that I really appreciate what James Gunn is trying to do with the DC Universe, and it’d be a shame to see it die before we even get to see how it plays out.
But Supergirl’s the writing was on the wall: not because of sexism or anything like that (for God’s sake, we live in 2026, this should be behind us by now), but because audiences saw it as something terribly derivative.
It’s as if after Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel had released Defenders of the Galaxy, I mean.
At a time when something original is needed to keep moving forward, DC can’t rely on the same old thing.
Super-horror
Gunn’s initial idea, of course, is tremendously interesting: now that superhero cinema is well established and in steep decline, it’s time to explore the other genres with a superhero twist.
Clayface could never work if it were the inspiring story of a man turned into clay who fights the standard villain, but…
As a cheap horror movie that broke every rule?
Well, why not?
What’s more: to pull it off, DC hasn’t left it to just anyone, but in names like Mike Flanagan and James Watkins, who already directed Speak No Evil or Eden Lake.
And at 53, he’s been given one of the smallest budgets anyone can remember for a superhero movie in the last 20 years to do what he does best: an offbeat movie that goes beyond guys in tights beating up bad guys.
Superheroes can’t live off past glories forever.
Now they need a shot in the arm that turns their movies into westerns, comedies, romance, horror or police thrillers (as Gunn himself is trying to do with Lanterns, much to fans’ dismay).
Evolve or die, that’s it.
You choose which side you’re on, but I know where I stand: give me a thousand Clayfaces before another Supergirl.
