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Gunn’s ‘Kooky 2000 Superhero’ movie foreshadowed his MCU, DCEU success


Bangladeshpost
Published : 16 Sep 2021 07:56 PM

While he's now renowned for his success working with both the MCU and DCEU, filmmaker James Gunn first broke into Hollywood with an independent superhero movie called ‘The Specials’. Released in 2000, ‘The Specials’ has remained surprisingly obscure despite an ensemble full of notable actors. It is not available on any streaming service and physical copies are hard to come by, despite the film getting a 20th anniversary Blu-Ray release in 2020.

The story of ‘The Specials’ centers on the titular team, who operate out of a suburban home in Los Angeles and are described in the movie's opening text as "the sixth or seventh greatest superhero team in the world." As the film opens, the team are preparing for the world premiere of their official action figure line; an honor which is said to be as important to superheroes as winning an Oscar is to actors. Unfortunately, the magical evening was ruined after the action figures proved to be of less than high quality and the infidelity of two of the team's members was exposed. This led to a long, dark night of the soul for The Specials, as they contemplated their future and confronted their individual baggage.

Production on The Specials was arduous, with the film being shot over the course of 18 days to fit into the schedules of Rob Lowe (who was about to start production on The West Wing) and Judy Greer and Jamie Kennedy, who were simultaneously filming Three Kings. Gunn revealed in the film's commentary that he felt burned out after moving to Los Angeles, which was why he did not direct The Specials himself, although he did play the part of the ‘Ant-Man’ like shrink Superhero Minute (pronounced My-Newt) Man.  Tensions reportedly ran hot, despite Gunn being friends with his fellow producers, and he admitted to having frequent arguments over the filming of the movie. 

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The chief conflict was that Gunn had written the movie as a mockumentary in the same spirit as This Is Spinal Tap, but director Craig Mazin filmed the movie like a sitcom and cut many of the sequences where the characters talked directly to the camera.