Superman saves a lot of people in the recently released DC Universe kickstarter. But he saves more than just people — much to the annoyance of some.
Warning! Spoilers for Superman follow:
As the world is coming to an end around him, Superman saves a lone squirrel. That’s right, he takes the time to save a squirrel from certain destruction, and we see the heroic save front and centre even as Metropolis and its citizens are under threat.
This, it turns out, wasn’t the most well-received moment in the film among test audiences. In fact, according to writer and director James Gunn, the squirrel moment was one of the most “hotly debated” in the entire movie.
Speaking to Rolling Stone as part of a spoiler-filled Superman interview, Gunn revealed he cut the squirrel out of Superman at one point in response to the feedback, but then put it back in even though people on his own crew were telling him not to.
“… although it was probably the second- or third-most hotly debated moment in the movie,” Gunn said of the squirrel.
“Because we showed it to test audiences and some people did not like the squirrel. They’re like, ‘Why the f*** is he saving a squirrel? Why is he taking time out, saving a squirrel?’
“There was a cut where I cut it out and I’m like, ‘I really miss the squirrel. He’s gotta save the squirrel.’ In addition, there were also some geographic problems with where he ended up if I didn’t have him fly over with the squirrel. So I put the squirrel back in despite the protestations of some of my people on my crew.”
So, the squirrel wasn’t just saved by Superman, it was saved by James Gunn, too.
Check out IGN’s Superman review to find out what we think of the film, and then head over to our Superman Ending and Post-Credits Explained to find out what it all means.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
