'Superman' director faces backlash for 'racist' India mention; responds with heroic backpedaling

The director of the new "Superman" movie has found himself under attack from online critics after he talked about what it feels like to be attacked by online critics.

For director James Gunn, it may feel like he is living in an alternate timeline (much like his superhero movies), but unlike the Avengers, he cannot be snapped into a different reality.

Gunn was doing a press junket interview with popular outlet the Reel Rejects (1.37 million subscribers on YouTube) when he was asked how he deals with online hate. Gunn's response was seemingly innocuous, but as usual, nothing could prepare him for the offense that was taken.

'It may not be directly racist, but it does contribute.'

"I do tune out most of social media, but every once in a while someone will say something, it's always the weirdest stuff," Gunn told reporter Greg Alba.

The director, touching on how the Superman character is faced with criticism in the new movie, explained that he typically comes to terms with online remarks after thinking about the insignificance of them.

"It's never what you expect, some weird thing ... and then I go, I think I might be getting upset about something a 12-year-old in India is saying, you know what I mean? I'm like, let it go."

Sadly, the backlash for simply saying "India" was immediate.

RELATED: New 'Superman' and 'Fantastic Four' face fearsome foe: Audience fatigue

The Financial Express noted immediate calls for a boycott by those reacting to a clip of the exchange on X. Viewers called Gunn's remarks "casual racism" and labeled him "racist to the core."

"He could've just avoided mentioning the location knowing the fact India already faces so much racism online," another viewer wrote on X. "These guys very well know what they speak. It may not be directly racist but it does contribute," the person claimed.

The Reel Rejects published the interview on July 1, with another interview with Gunn and Rachel Brosnahan (who plays Lois Lane) published by the Hindustan Times out of India the very next day.

The dates of the interview are significant because in the latter, Gunn appeared absolutely head-over-heels in love with India.

RELATED: Donald Trump wants to save Hollywood. Can he count on 'Superman'?

"Bollywood films are important to me when I'm telling stories," Gunn told the Indian outlet. "What those films give to me is that they aren't afraid of making a movie that has heart, that has drama, but that's also funny, there's music, and all of those things are beautiful."

From there, Gunn continued to shower praise on India and Indians:

"I would love to see an Indian actor be a part of the global superhero universe, but I would also love to have Indian filmmaking collaborators. ... Who's our Indian superhero, and who are the Indian filmmakers that want to be a part of this universe, that's important to us. We've already got things started in Korea, Japan, and Brazil. So it would be great to collaborate with some Indians."

The 58-year-old went on to say how "grateful" he is for Indian fans and that he thought about how much Superman means to the people of India while he was making the movie.

While it is difficult to tell the original recording date of each interview, Gunn's worldwide press tour started on June 19, which indicates both were likely filmed in late June.

However, the only two stops in June were in Manila and Rio de Janeiro, nowhere in India.

Movie critic and "Hollywood in Toto" podcast host Christian Toto told Blaze News that he thinks Gunn will "pander to any and every group (except conservatives) to ensure" the success of his latest film.

"[Gunn] famously got canceled for inappropriate jokes prior to 'Guardians of the Galaxy 3.' Now, he needs his 'Superman' to be an unmitigated success."

Toto added, "He doesn't realize it's 2025, and this kind of hostage-style apology no longer goes over like it used to."

The film critic was referring to Gunn getting dropped as the director for the "Guardians of the Galaxy" series in 2018, after old social media posts of his resurfaced that showed him making jokes that were deemed inappropriate by the powers that be. The jokes reportedly were about "pedophilia and rape."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!