DC chief James Gunn and filmmaker Zack Snyder made surprise appearances on this week’s episode of Rick and Morty, poking fun at each other days before the release of Gunn’s highly-anticipated film Superman.
Gunn and Snyder went head-to-head over Superman in the episode of the American animated series, released on July 6. The show is available to stream on Netflix.
The duo voiced themselves in a scene where their animated avatars stumble upon each other in the cafeteria. Although friendly at first, their interaction soon turns bitter, culminating in a hilarious, self-deprecating moment.
“Just saw your new cut of Superman,” Snyder, who directed Henry Cavill as Superman in the 2013 film Man of Steel, says cheekily as he approaches Gunn in the episode. “Word of advice: He's the Man of Steel, not the Man of Conversation,” he adds, taking a jibe at David Corenswet’s Superman in the upcoming movie.
Offering his two cents on how to make the upcoming Superman film successful, Snyder tells a baffled Gunn, “Do more shots of him punching! And here's a secret move: Start the punch at regular speed and then you're gonna ramp it down.”
Snapping back at him, Gunn says, “It's not a f****ing secret.”
However, Gunn chooses not to lose his temper at Snyder and apologises instead. “I'm sorry, Zack Snyder, I shouldn't be lashing out at you — your biceps are the size of my head,” he says.
“Yes, but so is my heart,” Snyder remarks.
Gunn explains the reason behind his frustration. He says that he has a problem with Rick and Morty protagonist Rick Sanchez.
Standing up for Sanchez, Snyder says, “That's the guy who sealed Christopher Nolan in the giant bookcase to punish him for Interstellar. He doesn't represent real fans. He's just the smartest man in the universe. Don't sweat it. He can't do what we do. Probably.”
In the rest of the episode, Gunn serves as a villain to the titular characters, who are unhappy with the recent developments in their favourite movie franchise, Maximum Velocitree, directed by Gunn. When confronting Gunn doesn’t work, Rick and Morty decide to fix the shortcomings of the film with Rick's latest invention, the Movie-lizer.
Rick and Morty’s new invention gets a thumbs up from Gunn as he says, “They did it! What an ending! They outdone the Gunn!”
Gunn took to Instagram on Monday and shared a still of his cameo from the show. “Dream job. Playing a villain on #RickandMorty,” he wrote.
Rick & Morty executive producer Scott Marder told Variety that both Gunn and Snyder were all up for the hilarious cameo.
“They were good sports,” Marder said. “Both of those guys sort of implied that this is the show they watch when they have downtime. So they were thrilled to get to be a part of the world, and there was no pushback or bristling. If anything, they laughed at anything we threw at them. There were probably, frankly, even more digs and more silly things we could have used. All they did was laugh it off,” he added.
Snyder, once in-charge of the creative process behind DC movies, is best known for directing Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League. In 2022, Gunn and Peter Safran took over the duties after they became co-chiefs of DC Studios.
Gunn’s Superman, slated to hit theatres on July 11, is set to reboot the superhero franchise. It stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor.
