Trivia / Super

• Creator Cameo: Director James Gunn plays Satan (or Demonswill) in The Holy Avenger's public access television show.
• Doing It for the Art: It is a very low-budget independent film, so everyone involved was paid scale. Rainn Wilson came in solely for his love of the script, having joined the film before he even finished reading it.
• Dueling Movies: With 2010's Kick-Ass, which had a similar premise of dark, realistic superheroics. Super is even darker and more grounded in reality. Both Mark Millar and Gunn are friends in real life, with the former defending the latter's work when accusations of copying came up (both films were developed around the same time independently of one another). Millar even screened Super at his own Kapow! comic convention in London. There's a third movie to factor into this with Defendor, which played at festivals before either film came out. Super could be considered half-way between Kick-Ass and Defendor, or maybe even more similar to the latter in many aspects. That being said, critically and financially Kick-Ass won. Defendor wins second place critically (74% on Rotten Tomatoes, just two points below Kick-Ass) and 3rd place financially (only $44k), while Super polarized critics (49% on RT) and earned half a million in theaters. (The film came out on a simultaneous theatrical/same day VOD release, which is usually how IFC Films releases their movies.)
• Playing Against Type: One of the reasons why Elliot Page took on the film was because they were tired of getting typecast in Juno-type roles. Andre Royo, who plays Frank's boss, was mainly known for dramatic roles such as Bubbles in The Wire, which James Gunn is a huge fan of.
• Production Posse: Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, Gregg Henry and Sean Gunn all appear, and have been in at least one of James Gunn's films to date. Even Lloyd Kaufman of Troma gets a cameo.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The movie was almost made in 2004 with John C. Reilly as the lead, but that fell through when the producers didn't think he was a big enough name at the time. The movie was quietly shelved until Jenna Fischer (James Gunns' ex wife) brought it back up to him and suggested her The Office (US) co-star Rainn Wilson. Because of this she gets a Special Thanks in the credits.
  • Supposedly, Jean-Claude Van Damme was supposed to be Jacques originally, but was absent at the very last minute. Kevin Bacon came in as a replacement.

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