James Gunn makes stand against “cameo porn” in superhero movies – and defends ‘Superman: Legacy’

James Gunn has described meaningless “cameo porn” as “one of the worst elements of recent superhero movies”.

In a recent discussion on Threads, the Superman: Legacy director responded to a commenter who said they were getting tired of superhero movies where a “character appear on screen for 10 seconds to mark a checkbox”.

Agreeing, Gunn replied: “I call that ‘Cameo Porn’ and it has been one of the worst elements of recent superhero films. “If a character is in film, they have to have a reason to be there story-wise.”

When another fan asked if he was totally opposed to a fun cameo here and there, he responded: “That’s fine if it doesn’t disrupt the story. It’s the plot contrivances that develop from a cameo, not the cameo itself.”

The writer/director also pushed back against accusations that his upcoming Superman reboot has a “large cast” and will be filled with cameos like Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan), Hawkgirl (Isabel Merced), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), and possibly Jason Momoa as Lobo.

“The whole point was it’s NOT a large film – I mean, not in terms of cast. It’s normal for single protagonist films to have other characters – much more unusual for them not to,” Gunn wrote. “None of those roles [in Superman: Legacy] are cameos.”

Set for release on July 11, 2025, Superman: Legacy will launch DC’s new film universe, spearheaded by Gunn and his co-CEO of DC Studios, Peter Safran.

This summer, it was confirmed that David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan had been cast in the lead roles of Superman and Lois Lane, respectively.

As first reported in The Hollywood Reporter, Corenswet and Brosnahan were selected from six actors who had screen tests earlier this month (June 17). The other actors in contention were Nicholas Hoult and Tom Brittney for Superman, while Emma Mackey and Phoebe Dynevor were also in the running for Lois.

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