James Gunn's new 'Superman' movie features scenes inspired by 'Top Gun: Maverick'.
The director is bringing the superhero back to the big screen next year with David Corenswet playing the Man of Steel and he's now revealed he was influenced by Tom Cruise's 2022 aviation blockbuster to use drones to help create action shots in the air.
According to Gizmodo, Gunn explained: "Being able to shoot stuff in the sky … is really hard. So we took a lot from films like 'Top Gun: Maverick'.
"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 and 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."
Gunn went on to talk about Superman's iconic costume and revealed his version of the character took inspiration from professional wrestlers.
He said: "We were trying on all these different versions, and we screened tested with trunks and no trunks.
"And one of the things David said is that Superman wants kids to not be afraid of him. He’s an alien. He’s got these incredible powers. He shoots beams out of his eyes … He’s this incredibly powerful, could be considered scary, individual and he wants people to like him. He wants to be a symbol of hope and positivity.
"So he dresses like a professional wrestler. He dresses in a way that makes people unafraid of him, that shows that hope that shows that positivity. And that really clicked in for me."
He added: "I think trying to pretend that Superman’s costume doesn’t have some frivolity to it at its base, trying to make it look serious, is silly because he is a superhero. He’s the first one, brightly coloured and that’s who he is."
The new 'Superman' also features Nicholas Hoult as the superhero's nemesis Lex Luthor and the 58-year-old filmmaker previously promised his upcoming blockbuster will be different to previous tales about the comic book hero as he's developed a villain who is genuinely scary and will leave fans fearing for Superman's fate.
Speaking on the 'Happy Sad Confused' podcast, Gunn said: "I don’t think we've ever seen the Lex that Nick is. Nick is, he's imposing. You go, 'Oh, f***, poor Superman.'
"That's the thing we never see, and not in film. Sometimes in the comics you go, 'Oh, Superman is f*****,' because Lex is so smart and good at what he's doing.
"But in the movies you're going, 'Lex is about to get f*****.' You see now where Lex is, he's not the person you want to have against you."
However, Gunn has also promised 'Superman' will be "pretty family-friendly".
Speaking about the DC Universe as a whole with MovieZine, Gunn said: “Everything's going to be totally different. We have something that's relatively serious like ‘Superman’ and then something that's relatively comedic like ‘Peacemaker’ all in the same universe.
"[Or] something very adult, like ‘Peacemaker’ [and] something pretty family-friendly like ‘Superman’.”
