Neither Batman nor Spider-Man: Steven Spielberg chooses the best superhero movie, and it’s not the one you think
The famous director of films like ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Saving Private Ryan’ celebrates the work of filmmaker James Gunn and his time at Marvel.
Steven Spielberg is one of the great directors of modern cinema and responsible for true classics: from ‘E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial’ to ‘Jurassic Park,’ ‘Jaws,’ ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ ‘Schindler’s List,’ ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ ‘Hook,’ ‘Minority Report,’ ‘War of the Worlds,’ or ‘Lincoln,’ among many others, as well as winning up to four Academy Awards and being nominated up to 15 times. Thanks to his work, Spielberg has earned the right to have a prominent weight in the industry, including his always welcome opinions on cinema. And the superhero genre is no stranger to Spielberg’s own tastes; what’s more, he’s on hand to share his favorite superhero movie: Marvel Studios’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ helmed by James Gunn, director of the new ‘Superman’ for DC.
Spielberg’s favorite superhero movie
“I really like Richard Donner’s ‘Superman’, Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’, and the first ‘Iron Man’, but the superhero movie that impressed me the most is one that doesn’t take itself too seriously: Guardians of the Galaxy. When the screening ended, I left with the feeling that I had seen something new in the cinema, without any cynicism or fear of being dark when necessary,” Spielberg explained in 2016 on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival.
James Gunn’s first film for Marvel Studios is not among the top five superhero movies in Rotten Tomatoes’ rankings:
- ‘Black Panther’: 96%.
- ‘Avengers: Endgame’: 94%.
- ‘Iron Man’: 94%
- ‘Thor: Ragnarok’: 93%
- ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: 93%.
Still, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ had a huge impact on the franchise and the superhero genre in general, and Spielberg’s positive opinion only reinforces that. When Marvel Studios announced the first part of the MCU galactic trilogy, it was the first time the franchise drew inspiration from the darker corners of the comics. A talking raccoon and an anthropomorphic tree were risky concepts to bring to live-action, but Marvel Studios and James Gunn not only captivated audiences, but the film also grossed nearly $800 million at the worldwide box office.
So much so that Kevin Feige’s riskiest bet became one of the pillars on which the MCU was sustained during its first three phases, whose protagonists also had a great weight in other crossovers of the saga. And its third part was one of the most anticipated films of the MCU. Of course, Spielberg is not all in with the superhero genre, as he once commented the following about its future: “We were around when the Western died and there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western. It doesn’t mean there won’t be another occasion where the Western comes back and the superhero movie someday returns.”
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