James Gunn Trashes MAGA, Praises Communist China

Priorities, priorities.

“Superman” director James Gunn knows where his bread is buttered. Or, at least he thinks he does.

Gunn capped a furious marketing blitz for his Man of Steel reboot by attacking Trump supporters in The Times of London. He described his new film as an ode to immigration – conflating the legal and illegal varieties as dishonest liberals do.

James Gunn Confirms Superman Is About Politics, Immigration and Decline of American Kindness — Says “Screw Them” to “Jerks” Who Get Offendedhttps://t.co/5229LZISfz

— That Park Place (@TPPNewsNetwork) July 6, 2025

Gunn took it a step further. He said, “screw” those who don’t agree with his worldview. The comments swiftly went viral. He must have anticipated that reaction.

If he didn’t, he’s more of an alien to Earth than his title character.

Yet the same Gunn went out of his way to praise Communist China during the press push in the Middle Kingdom.

“Superman is a movie for everybody across the world, and it’s especially for the people of China,” Gunn said during his visit to the country. “China is the most important place for me in terms of where I learned to make movies and how I love to make movies.”

It got even more embarrassing.

“Even though I’ve only been to China once before, it’s like coming home to me,” Gunn gushed. “These are the movies that fueled this — it does not exist without this.”

At least he didn’t speak in Mandarin like a certain action movie star.

Gunn wouldn’t describe his own country that way. He’s gone on record as comparing President Donald Trump to Hitler – multiple times. Heck, he didn’t even deploy Superman’s signature line, “Truth, justice and the American way” in his film.

Except his China pandering went for naught. And he should have known better.

U.S. films have struggled in China in recent years. That wasn’t the case a few years ago, when American blockbusters made massive profits in the country.

“Avengers: Endgame” earned a staggering $632 million in the Communist country.

That was then. Now, Chinese filmmakers create movies that rival U.S.-made titles in terms of special effects and overall quality. Chinese moviegoers prefer homegrown stories, which makes sense.

So it’s little surprise that Gunn’s “Superman” bombed in China. The film won’t even make $10 million during its opening frame. That’s disastrous for a movie with a sky-high budget. Media estimates peg the number as between $225 million (the Warner Bros. figure) to $363 million (official tax documents).

And that doesn’t include the marketing millions spent on the title.

Why would Gunn praise China, a country rife with human rights abuses, and attack MAGA? He wanted more Chinese citizens to see his film and fewer right-leaning Americans to do the same.

Is there any other answer that makes sense?

More importantly, Gunn is less offended by Chinese officials holding Uyghur citizens in concentration camp-like centers and crushing speech than Trump voters clamoring for sealed borders and energy independence.