SPOILER ALERT: This article contains SPOILERS for ‘Brightburn’, so if you haven’t seen it yet, either turn back or proceed with caution.
This weekend, Sony presented ‘Brightburn’– directed by David Yarovesky, and written by cousins Brian and Mark Gunn, produced by James Gunn— a dark twist on the Superman legend, in which an alien boy, Brandon Breyer (played by Jackson A. Dunn), who is raised by a kind farm couple, Tori and Kyle, played by Elizabeth Banks and David Denman. But unlike Clark Kent, upon discovering his superpowers, Brandon uses them to go on a murdering spree taking out everyone that has picked on or tormented him.
After covering up his murders by crashing a plane full of innocent people on the scene, Brandon goes on to continue killing those he doesn’t like in Kansas. But in a post-credits scene, it is revealed that this world is home to evil duplicates of other iconic heroes.
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Frequent James Gunn collaborator Michael Rooker pops up as a conspiracy theorist on a TV show called ‘The Big T’, on which he rants about a superpowered being rampaging across Kansas and leaving his “BB” calling card at the scenes. But then Rooker goes on to discuss a “half-man, half-sea creature” terrorizing the oceans, and a supernatural woman who strangles her victims with a rope.
Yep, this world also plays home to evil versions of Aquaman and Wonder Woman.
Also shown on ‘The Big T’ is a photo of a vigilante that looks an awful lot like the Crimson Bolt, the character played by Rainn Wilson in James Gunn’s deconstructionist 2010 film ‘Super’. The Crimson Bolt’s real name was Frank Darbo, and the diner, shown in some trailers, is called Darbo’s, so there could be another connection between ‘Super’ and ‘Brightburn’.
And considering that the Crimson Bolt didn’t actually have any superpowers, it’s conceivable that he could serve as this world’s fill-in for Batman.
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It seems as though the makers of ‘Brightburn’ had their eye on possibly making a ‘Glass’-like crossover movie in the future– a dark murderous version of ‘Justice League’.
Unfortunately, the $12 million-budgeted ‘Brightburn’ only made $8M during its opening 4-day weekend. So, unless it really takes off one home video, streaming or cable, that will remain an untold tale.
Would you like to see this dark take on the ‘Justice League’?
‘Brightburn’ is now playing in theaters.
Source: Screen Rant
