The superhero film genre’s PG-13 tag often involves cutting certain aspects both DC and Marvel comics aren’t as shy to talk about, with sex being right at the top of the list. Nevertheless,The Suicide Squaddirector andPeacemakerseries creator James Gunn recently came out against Steven Soderbergh’s opinions on the matter, claiming there were plenty of steamy scenes to go along with the superpowered action.
Gunn’s comments came on the back of a statement Soderbergh (Ocean’s ElevenandMagic Mike) recently made, expressing his distaste for the genre due to what he perceives as a complete lack of room for the sex lives of all these superheroes. Soderbergh did concede his movies tend to be much more grounded and that he finds himself unable to detach from reality onto a world where physics seems almost non-existent, yet his maingripe with superhero movieswas that “Nobody’s f***ing! Like, I don’t know how to tell people how to behave in a world in which that is not a thing…."
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Leave it then to Gunn to correct his colleague.TheGuardians of the GalaxyandPeacemakermastermind fired back with plenty of examples of superheroes getting it on throughout the history of comic book adaptations. In his usual style, Gunn highlighted works beyond his own, naming the likes of Richard Donner (Superman), Zack Snyder (Watchmen), Tim Miller (Deadpool), and more recently Chloe Zhao (Eternals), as examples of directors who weren’t happy to develop “an entire antiseptic sexless film universe," adding that such a thing “is a denial of who we are as human beings (and how every single one of us got here).”
Gunn started the discussion by tweeting images from three of his projects,Guardians of the Galaxy,The Suicide Squad, andPeacemaker, where sex was on the forefront. However, he still gave Soderbergh credit for pointing out a reality that prevails in most comic book movies. This is far from the first time Gunn has drawn a certain distance from the majority of superhero movies and the ones he makes, going as far as calling most productions outright “boring.”
The MCU is more prone to this behavior, as Zhao’s tame sex scene between Ikaris and Sersi inEternalswas the first time any type of lovemaking had been featured on-screen, due to Marvel Studios' more family-friendly approach. This may just be one of the reasonswhy Gunn feels more at home in DCthan in the MCU, where he’s been given the creative license to lead two R-Rated productions already, andPeacemakeris paying off handsomely for HBO Max.
Peacemaker’sfirst episode features nudity and that’s far from the only occasion John Cena’s character is seen or implied to live out a normal sex life, or at least as normal as it can bewhen it comes to Peacemaker. In any case, Gunn probably just wants Soderbergh to expand his horizons a bit and watch a movie or two that don’t belong in the MCU.
Peacemakeris now streaming on HBO Max.
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