‘Brightburn’ Is A New Horror Film That Imagines A World Where Superman Is A Massive Jerk
It comes to you courtesy of James Gunn of 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' fame.
We all know that Superman is a kindly, heroic space alien, keen to solve our lowly mortal problems and generally parade about the place like a red-caped Jesus. But what Brightburn, a new horror movie produced by James Gunn of Guardians of the Galaxy fame seeks to suppose is, what if Superman was instead a massive, massive dickhead.
It looks deeply fascinating, not to mention genuinely quite traumatising.
The newest trailer for Brightburn plays up its connections to the Superman story — an alien crash lands on Earth, is adopted by a pair of kindly, rural folk, and slowly begins to discover his otherworldly powers.
But, rather than being martyred by his peers, the young superhero is instead alienated from them. Which rather feels true to life, to be honest. After all, if there’s one thing communities hate it’s the unusual, and a young classmate who can shoot laser beams out of his eyes and stop lawn mower blades with his bare hands is about as unusual as it’s possible to get.
Anyway, from that point on, the young alien takes all the bullying rather personally, and launches a deeply unkind campaign of terror against his classmates and his oblivious parents, swatting down any light aircraft that get in his way.
Brightburn hits Australian cinemas on May 23rd.