James Gunn On How ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ Zack Snyder & ‘All-Star Superman’ Influenced New Film; Teases Lois & Clark’s “Complicated Relationship”

James Gunn is teasing Superman ahead of the first trailer dropping on Thursday, revealing his influences for the DC Studios film.

After dropping the first teaser for the upcoming superhero film, Gunn is spilling the tea on how Top Gun: Maverick inspired the filmmaker in “shooting flying things.”

“I wrote up this big document on action and what our philosophy is of action and how we shoot it and what it is, and keeping it alive in the air, as well as on the ground,” Gunn said in a report from ComicBook. “And to be able to shoot stuff in the sky as if we were shooting it … Because everything was rougher, like, it’s in Guardians [of the Galaxy], like it’s in The Suicide Squad. And being able to shoot stuff in the sky like that is really hard.”

He continued, “So we took a lot from films like Top Gun: Maverick, which, we are shooting flying things. We shoot a lot of our action with actual drones flying in and around Superman and the people that he’s flying with, The Engineer, whoever else, that he’s fighting up in the air, and we did that on sound stages. We got these really small, crazy drones now. We’ve got some of the best flyers in the world here who are working with it. And so we use those guys a lot and everything’s planned out with me, as it always is. But at the same time, I’ve gotten even more into finding new stuff on the set and new moments and exploring that stuff, finding magic where it is.”

Gunn’s Superman was also inspired by all the DC media from the past, including Zach Snyder’s take on the Man of Steel and the comic book series All-Star Superman.

“I think that all previous DC media influenced me,” Gunn said, according to IGN. “I think that obviously the original Donner movie influenced me, but there’s also a lot of things that this isn’t, like I’m just making a Donner-type movie. It’s very different from that. Zack [Snyder] did some excellent stuff. So there’s a lot of ways that influenced me. There’s a lot of ways in which the DC animated universe [influenced me], and then there’s a lot of stuff from the comic books – above and beyond anything else, All-Star Superman – that influenced me more than anything. To take that sort of Silver Age feel, that sort of science-fiction approach to it with gadgets, Lex [Luthor] is really a sort of sorcerer in a way. He’s a scientist, but he’s so good at science and I think of him as like a sorcerer.”

David Corenswet takes on the role of Superman (Clark), and Rachel Brosnahan will portray Lois Lane. Gunn teased that their relationship is something he believes has not been done in other films.

“It’s just something that’s completely us,” Gunn said, according to ComicBook. “The relationship between David and Rachel’s [characters] on screen is something I don’t think we’ve seen in – I hate to say stuff like this – but I don’t think it’s something we’ve ever seen any superhero movie ever.”

“It’s a complicated relationship and we really get into it and there’s long scenes that are about their relationship and the way they relate and what it would be like for a person who’s this incredibly intelligent, strong-headed, stubborn, skeptical journalist, to have a relationship with someone who can lift a skyscraper.”