The influence of Guardians of the Galaxy (that is, on other superhero films) really can‘t be overstated. The film re-proved that you didn’t have to have a dour po-faced attitude to win over audiences, essentially jump-starting the post-Nolan superhero era, and whipped up a humongous gross by tapping into the nostalgia dollar at the same time. It’s a comfort-food film, going down easy and sticking to your ribs. Of course its buoyant attitude soon became an object of constant imitation, and now that’s come full circle, to the point that movies must actively avoid the similarity to James Gunn‘s franchise if they want to stick out.

That’s the dilemma facing director Matthew Vaughn in his quest to remake sci-fi/fantasy adventure Flash Gordon. The perennially popular space opera was all set for a modernized spiffing-up courtesy of Vaughn, but Collider notes that while out on the press circuit in promotion of his latest feature Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the director expressed some misgivings about the project. Specifically, that he was concerned the tone of the property — defined by a goofy affection for the culture of yesterdecade — would remind audiences of similar films a little too much.

Yeah, we’ve been working on it. For me, the only problem with Flash Gordon is Guardians [of the Galaxy] kind of stole what I would have liked to have done with it. You’ve got Star Wars, you’ve got Guardians, so you’ve got to have your own space opera, but you have to find something that can survive among these two very, very great franchises.

Fair enough, setting himself apart from those two massively popular properties would be an uphill battle any filmmaker would have trepidation about taking on. So that leaves matters very much up in the air, though you’re free to spend the rest of your day wondering who in Hollywood could possibly pull off Flash Gordon’s signature feathered tresses.

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