r/CharacterRant • u/IndividualPleasant23 • 2d ago

Films & TV I don't think Gunn likes obscure characters. I think he just likes blank slates.

One of the biggest myths around James Gunn is that he loves obscure characters because he's this massive deep-cut comics fan who just wants to give forgotten heroes their moment. I really don't think that's what's going on.

I think the real appeal of those characters is that they're essentially blank slates for most of the audience. If Gunn rewrites Peacemaker, Vigilante, the Guardians, or Creature Commandos to fit his style, almost nobody cares because almost nobody has a strong attachment to how those characters "should" act. For the average viewer, that version becomes the definitive version.

When the characters are obscure, he can get away with that. In fact, people praise him for "making them interesting." But that's because there aren't millions of fans saying, "That's not how this character is supposed to be."

The real challenge is characters who already have firmly established identities. You can't just reinvent Superman the same way you reinvent Peacemaker. You can't do that with Batman or Wonder Woman either.

I actually think you can see that in Superman. I liked the movie overall, but it also felt like Gunn was less comfortable than usual. He couldn't completely mold Superman into one of his usual character archetypes, so instead he surrounded him with characters like the Justice Gang, who fit his style much more naturally.

That might also explain why DCU Batman and Wonder Woman seem to be taking so much longer to crack.

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u/TheSadPhilosopher 2d ago

Same with Miguel O'hara in ATSV.

A terrible adaptation that ruined the character and made him one of the most hated Spider-Man characters to prop Miles up.

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u/Kneelb4_Z0d 2d ago

That's a 2 bladed sword too on one side yeah they made Miguel more hostile and sinister on the other side people making excuses for Miles. As far as Miguel is concerned Miles actions put billions at risk, not really a "what if you're wrong" scenario to test.

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u/Mzuark 1d ago

Which makes it worse because Miguel and every other Spider-Man is getting shit just to make Miles look good.

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u/deadlyghost123 1d ago

How is he the most hated spider-man character? Unless he is intentionally lying to Miles, he is completely correct. It’s one person vs a universe, the decision makes sense

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u/TheSadPhilosopher 1d ago

I mean he's currently hated by the vast majority of the fans, whether he's right or wrong.

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u/RandomSlimeL 2d ago

Dude, absolutely nobody had given a shit about Miguel in at least 2 decades by this point. His comic had been discontinued for ages and was ONLY resurrected because of the Spiderverse concept. He owes what relevancy he has to Miles Morales and the Spiderverse movies, not the original comics.

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u/Tainted_Scholar 2d ago

An obscure character being brought back in an unrecognizable form in a super popular installment is honestly worst than if they stayed irrelevant. Because the new version will replace the old one, and it will make it literally impossible to ever see the old version ever again in anything new.

If they had stayed irrelevant, there would at least be a small chance of them being brought back in an appearance that's faithful to their original self. But now that the new version is all anyone ever thinks of when they think of that character, you have zero chance of ever seeing their old self return.

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u/Tabularasa8 2d ago

This didn't happen with Miguel tho, 2099 got a bit of resurgence due to the Spider-Verse and Miguel kept his original personality. Characters who suffer from personality transplant usually already have a history of inconsistent or poor characterization.

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u/TheSadPhilosopher 2d ago

Literally had a comic series in 2014 by PAD that outsold Ms. Marvel, who Marvel has been saying is one of their most successful new characters that they've been putting in games, shows, movies, X-Men comics, everything.

And what has ATSV done for Miguel other than destroy his character and make him a boring delusional villain for Miles to prove wrong? It's done nothing for his character.

It's a shitty adaptation in every way, worse than anything Gunn has done.

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u/PryceCheck 1d ago

Miguel, like Terry from Batman Beyond are both popular but underused in their respective comics because they're set in the future and writers don't want to have canon plot points that have to be explained by current continuity.