“When Superman was first made, he was a science fiction character”: First Superman Animated Series Under James Gunn Had the Wildest Man of Steel Idea

Superman is one of those superheroes who has always gained wide momentum among fans, becoming their favorite in the least time possible and continuing to rule their hearts through the indelible marks left behind by their stories. That being said, he has also earned multiple animated and live-action adaptations over the years, including the most recent one under James Gunn.

However, while all of those other animated projects gave the feeling of being like yet another cartoon show despite their outstanding storylines, this first animated series under Gunn’s reign as the co-CEO of the DC Universe, i.e. My Adventures with Superman, gave a different vibe. This was because it had the wildest idea for its core animation: Its main theme being anime-inspired!

This Superman Series Under James Gunn Had The Wildest Idea

Back in July 2023, My Adventures with Superman made its debut in the entertainment industry as the first animated series on Clark Kent under the reign of Gunn’s DC Universe. But what it brought about was a lot different than what many were expecting.

For instance, its highly drawn inspiration from anime truly set the series apart from all the others like never before. Not only were the characters drawn in the same manner, but there were even some incredibly clever reinterpretations that made the series wildly different.

According to what one of the executive producers of the series, Jake Wyatt, shared during an interview with Comics Beat:

“Brendan [Clogher] namechecked Metal Gear a lot.”

This was followed by a response from Brendan Clogher himself, who shared that anime was “definitely a big influence on some of our villains,” before adding,

“We like video games and anime as I think you figured out.”

So this was why that masterpiece series under James Gunn felt so much more like an original anime project rather than an animated series!

But this wasn’t done all for nothing, and there was a very valid reason behind such inspirations and reinterpretations of the saga.

MAWS EP Wanted to Make the Series “Feel closer to home”

Continuing in the interview, another Executive Producer of the series, Brendan Clogher shared the real reason behind this approach of theirs as he said:

“We really wanted to do a version of the show that leaned into the science fiction of it all. Way back when Superman was first made, he was a science fiction character.”

He then explained:

“We wanted to hearken back to that and ground the start of our story in Metropolis with terrestrial villains. Everything coming into our show early on feels closer to home to all the main characters.”

Well, needless to mention, My Adventures with Superman most certainly felt closer to home to a lot of the fans, considering the star-studded 82% average audience score and 96% average Tomatometer numbers this show has on Rotten Tomatoes.

As per what Josie Campbell, the third developer of this project, revealed in the interview:

“Story-wise, everything we did we did for a reason. I can’t talk too much about it otherwise we’re giving away stuff. There are reasons the villains are tied to technology. You’re going to have to watch the show to figure out why!”

Seems like we’ll have to check it out for ourselves to know just how much truth this comment from the executive producers of MAWS holds!

That said, you can stream My Adventures with Superman on Prime Video.