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By
André Joseph
Published 24 minutes ago
André Joseph is a movie features writer at Collider. Born and raised in New York City, he graduated from Emerson College with a Bachelor's Degree in Film. He freelances as an independent filmmaker, teacher, and blogger of all things pop culture. His interests include Marvel, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Robocop, wrestling, and many other movies and TV shows.
His accomplishments as a filmmaker include directing the indie movie Vendetta Games now playing on Tubi, the G.I. Joe fan film "The Rise of Cobra" on YouTube, and receiving numerous accolades for his dramatic short film Dismissal Time. More information can be found about André on his official website.
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In a year when James Gunn revitalized the DC Comics brand on film with Superman, fans of the director can rejoice as his 2019 producing effort, Brightburn, has found a new streaming home. On December 1, the darker, bloodier take on the Man of Steel’s origin story will be available to stream on Netflix. Released in the period between Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 and The Suicide Squad, Brightburn was a welcome return to the horror genre that Gunn specialized in before his MCU days.
Brightburn hit theaters just two months shy of another subversive depiction of DC superheroes with Amazon’s The Boys. Directed by David Yarovesky and written by Gunn’s siblings Brian and Mark Gunn, Brightburn earned a mixed reception from critics, scoring a 57% rotten score on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the lukewarm reception, the film earned $33 million against a reported $6 million budget, gaining a cult following in the process, and still remains one of Gunn’s most talked-about projects due to its setup for an original universe-building franchise.
What Is 'Brightburn' About?
Brightburn follows the lives of childless Kansas farmers Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer (David Denman). Their entire world changes when they discover a spaceship containing a baby that crash-lands on their property. Naming the baby Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn), the Breyers raise him as their own with a normal upbringing until he discovers his superpowers at age 12.
What sounds like the same story beats as another iconic superhero from Middle America takes a sharp turn when Brandon’s troubles with other students at school raise his anger to dangerous levels that lead to senseless violence. Upon learning the truth about his real origin from the spaceship’s messaging, chanting “Take the world,” Brandon turns against the Breyers for their deception. Donning a dark mask and torn cape, Brandon embraces his new sinister identity as "Brightburn".
The Superman franchise on film has frequently been criticized for the lack of action and grit for a decades-old superhero standing for truth, justice, and the American way. Brightburn turns the entire Clark Kent origin story in Smallville into a bad seed nightmare echoing The Omen, but with biting satire. Similar to Gunn’s vigilante dark comedy Super, Brightburn mocks the genre clichés by making the titular character’s costume look like a serial killer instead of a superhero, as well as taking the moments of self-discovery of his abilities and twisting them to disturbing but absurd levels. Even Denman and Banks’ characters, who play Brightburn’s version of Jonathan and Martha Kent, are less earnest and more imperfect as foster parents. Denman’s Kyle would rather put Brandon out of his misery than teach him self-control, while Banks’s Tori is too naïve to believe the boy has any trace of good in him. These inherent aspects of Brightburn are refreshing to have in an era where the plethora of superhero movies often stick too closely to formula rather than take bold risks.
What Happened to ‘Brightburn 2’?
Following the release of Brightburn, talks of a sequel commenced as the film’s mid-credit sequence, after the dark ending, teased other twisted takes on popular DC characters. Director Yarovesky told Collider about how he would go about future installments by taking inspiration from Cloverfield. "If we were to expand the Brightburn universe in other installments and in other ways, we would probably be doing it in the exact same way," Yarovesky said, "in total secrecy and then drop a cinematic trailer at some point that kind of teaches you what that new direction may be.”
In the six years since Brightburn’s release, Gunn became the co-CEO of DC Studios and would go on to direct David Corenswet as the new Clark Kent/Superman in the 2025 reboot. Between Gunn’s extensive responsibilities at the studio and the Brightburn rights in legal limbo, the producer revealed on Threads that there are "no plans at all for this right now" concerning any sequels and spinoffs for Brightburn.
Brightburn arrives on Netflix on December 1 in the US.
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Brightburn
Like R Horror Sci-Fi Drama Release Date May 24, 2019 Runtime 90 Minutes Director David Yarovesky Writers Mark Gunn, Brian GunnCast
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Steve Agee
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Emmie Hunter
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David Denman
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