James Gunn reveals his top 5 comic book movies – and two are DC

James Gunn, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and new co-chief of DC Studios, has revealed his five favorite comic book movies.

Gunn has been playing with superheroes since 2010’s Super, an ultra-violent, incredibly odd black comedy that was unfairly compared to Kick-Ass upon release.

Nevertheless, it paved the way for the filmmaker’s entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the first Guardians of the Galaxy volume, a widely written-off gamble that proved every naysayer wrong, teeing up the best trilogy (and the best films, period) in the overall franchise.

After delivering a phenomenal closer with Vol. 3 (check out our review here), Gunn is now actively working on Superman: Legacy, the official launchpad for the new DCU.

James Gunn ranks his top 5 comic book movies

In a new interview with GQ, Gunn was asked to discuss his top five favorite comic book movies – and two of them come from DC. We’ve listed them below:

• Deadpool
• Oldboy
• A History of Violence
• Superman
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Gunn is writing and directing Superman: Legacy, which will “focus on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing,” according to co-CEO Peter Safran.

Richard Donner’s original 1978 movie ranked at number two on Gunn’s personal list. “This one is important to me historically. It’s a great movie, but it’s also a movie I saw as a kid that affected my life a lot,” he said, recalling seeing it in the cinema and realizing it was “another big magical moment.”

“At the time, they did exactly what we’re doing now: we’re going through tons and tons of actors to see who captures that spirit. The thing they don’t talk about much when they talk about Christopher Reeve, is they talk about his pureness, his hope, his goodness… but there’s this playfulness about Superman. When he’s saving a cat, he’s got this wry smile, and that’s one of the best parts of the movie… he enjoys what he’s doing.”

Gunn also said he’s doing his “own thing” with Legacy, but he’s “definitely influenced” by Donner’s work with the first movie.

A packed roster of frontrunners has emerged for Superman: Legacy, including the likes of Nicholas Hoult, Sex Education’s Emma Mackey, and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan.

Superman: Legacy is due to hit cinemas on July 11, 2025. You can check out the rest of our DC coverage here.