James Gunn’s Superman has become one of those movies that gets endlessly talked about online, as it soars to domestic box office highs.

But this is a movie that Gunn worked on and tweaked right up until releasing it in the theaters.

What I loved about it was its unabashed heart and soul. You really feel for these characters, and you can laugh and cry with them as things get better or get tough.

To walk that line, you have to kill your darlings, and you have to really nail the tone. One wrong scene and you can throw the whole thing off.

Well, Gunn almost made this mistake on Superman, but realized it just in time to yank it out. What was it, and what made it too dark for this movie?

Let’s dive in.

The Superman Scene That Went Too Far

On a recent Happy Sad Confused podcast, Gunn pulled back the curtain and revealed a moment he left on the cutting room floor that would have taken this scene to a whole new level of disturbing.

But first, let’s set the scene in the movie.

Lex has this bonkers prison in an alternate dimension. The production design alone is chilling—he keeps anyone who has ever wronged him locked up in glass cubes. Anthony Carrigan’s Metamorpho is there to create Kryptonite and weaken Superman, in exchange for Luthor releasing his infant son from mortal danger.

We’re already treading water here when it comes to the tone of this movie.

But this is where the script delivers a gut punch. To prove a point to Superman, Lex just dispatches a poor falafel vendor named Malik with a gunshot straight to the head. And he does it right in front of him.

Supes has no way to even stop the bullet.

Gunn, as a director, makes a smart choice here—he cuts to a wide, letting the act be the horrific part, sparing us the gory close-up. It’s efficient, brutal, and stays within the tone of the movie, pushing us close to the breaking point.

But here’s where it gets really interesting for us writers and directors.

In the original cut, after executing Malik, Lex turned to another prisoner, Boravian President Vasil Ghurkos, and forced him to soak up the man’s blood to avoid getting it on his shoes.

Let that sink in.

‘Superman’ (2025)Credit: Warner Bros.

It’s a beat that moves beyond simple violence and into pure, sadistic psychological torture. I think it sounds really cool, and I will totally steal it for another movie, but not this movie.

Gunn ultimately decided it was too much, taking the scene from a necessary downer into something truly ugly.

It’s a perfect example of a creator knowing exactly where the line is and drawing it.

Gunn elaborated on all these choices in the podcast, saying, “[Lex shooting Malik in the head was] always done in this extreme wide so it’s not too graphic.”

Gunn continued, “But the guy fell on the ground and blood is pouring out onto the platform and Lex looks down and he sees that the blood is about to get on his shoes and he’s like, ‘Oh my god, my shoes.’”

In Gunn’s words, what happens is Lex orders Ghurkos to “get down on the ground and soak up the blood,” a request the president refuses.

Gunn explained, “And Nic [Hoult] looks at him. The delivery is great because he just looks at him straight, and he’s like, ‘No?’ And then Ghurkos just sheepishly, like, sadly trudges forward and lies down on his back, and he’s so funny. He lies down on his back and then just starts [Gunn moves his torso left and right] and soaking up the blood, and then Nick looks over at Superman and says, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’ And then they drive away.”

It never made the cut thanks to a test screening and to Gunn knowing that beat went one step too far into darkness, and that in a colorful and bright Superman, it didn’t belong.Let me know what you think in the comments.