Writer/director James Gunn has enlisted the talents of the alumni from his past productions Slither, Scooby-Doo, and his multiple web series, for his latest film Super, a comedic twist on the superhero genre, which is currently shooting in Louisiana. These additions include: Nathan Fillion, Linda Cardellini, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Stephen Blackeheart, Mikaela Hoover, Lloyd Kaufman, and Valentine Miele. Gunn has also cast Andre Royo and Steve Agee in the film, both of whom are new to Gunn’s clan.
This impressive class of thespians join an already all-star cast featuring executive producer Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, and Kevin Bacon.
Ted Hope is producing through his Gotham-based production company This is that, along with Miranda Bailey of LA-Based Ambush Entertainment, which is also financing the film. HanWay Films is handling international sales.
Wilson plays Frank, a seemingly average Joe who is madly in love with his troubled wife Sarah (Tyler). But when Sarah leaves Frank for Jacques (Bacon), a smooth-talking drug dealer, Frank transforms into pseudo superhero The Crimson Bolt, stakes out Jacques sleazy hideaway, and wages a one-man war on crime. What he lacks in superpowers, he makes up for with a trusty pipe wrench. Every superhero needs a sidekick and so enters Libby (Page), a cute sociopathic teen working at the local comic book store, who morphs into Boltie and teams with Frank to take Jacques down.
These cast additions hail from a diverse array of past collaborations:
– Three from the new cast are Slither stars: Henry plays Detective John Felkner, a local cop who goes hot on the chase of The Crimson Bolt; Fillion plays a pop-icon who inspires Frank to don his tights; and Rooker is appearing as Abe, Jacques’s henchman.
– Four actors are from Gunn-penned cult favorite Tromeo and Juliet: Sean Gunn and Blackeheart, who play members of Bacon’s gang and Kaufman and Miele.
– Scooby-Doo (penned by Gunn) star Cardellini is appearing as the woman who ultimately delivers love to Frank and Hoover (Gunn’s web-hits “PG Porn” and “Humanzee!”) is appearing as a young woman who helps to inspire Wilson’s character.
“From Nathan to Rooker to Gregg to my brother Sean, some of my closest relationships have been fortified during films I’ve done in the past. These are people I like and admire but with whom I also share common creative goals. It helps imbue ‘Super’ with an uncommon life, warmth, and energy. ‘Super’ is an act of love for all of us, and it’s wonderful having the people I love the most helping me make it,” said James Gunn.
“This is such an ambitious production; every day promises to be difficult, but James has such loyal collaborators, we might just achieve the impossible. They already know he is one of the most prepared and decisive directors on this planet and now he’s proven it to me, too,” said producer Hope.
