«Рік і Морті» навпроти Джеймса Ганна / Adult Swim
Two major superhero directors appear in the new episode of «Rick and Morty» as themselves. Amid mixed reviews of «Superman», their presence makes everything better.
James Gunn and Zack Snyder made their cameo in the 7th episode of the 8th season, titled «Ricker Than Fiction», which was released on July 6. And although they are known for their different approaches to Superman — this time they teamed up not for DC, but for the sake of jokes in the animation world.
The episode centers on a scene in the Warner Bros. cafeteria where Gunn and Snyder meet and play pranks on each other. Snyder (the author of «Man of Steel») pokes fun at Gunn: «Just saw your new cut of Superman. And word of advice—he’s the ‘Man of Steel,’ not the ‘Man of Conversation». And he adds: «Do more shots of him punching».
In the episode, Gunn plays the role of the director of the fictional Maximum Velocitree franchise, which is the series of movies Rick and Morty react to in outrage. It’s a kind of irony on the many failures of real-life movies. After a visit to the studio, they decide to rewrite the story themselves by stealing a Moviemaker — a device that allows them to edit movies on the go.
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Despite openly trolling each other, the directors willingly agreed to participate in the project. According to the show’s executive producer Scott Marder, Gunn recorded his lines literally the next morning after the filming of the new «Superman» was completed.
«”Both of those guys sort of implied that this is the show they watch when they have downtime. So they were thrilled to get to be a part of the world, and there was no pushback or bristling. If anything, they laughed at anything we threw at them. There were probably, frankly, even more digs and more silly things we could have used. All they did was laugh it off», — Scott Marder adds.
Although the episode has nothing to do with DC, it successfully ironizes the superhero industry, fan wars, and the approaches of directors. Just remember how long and loudly James Gunn advertised the new «Superman», but a few days before the premiere, people started talking about its failure. The relaunch of the superhero universe, which has suffered financial blows before, is now task No. 1, in which hundreds of millions have been invested. But it’s hard to say that success is inevitable after the first viewers’ phrase about the last nail in the «coffin of superheroics». Although to say that all reviews were bad — would be a lie.
Source: Games Radar / Variety
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