"Superman" soared into theaters this weekend, snapping up an estimated $122 million in domestic ticket sales and launching a new era of DC superhero flicks.

Superman is the most powerful superhero in DC Comics, able to go toe to toe with its most powerful villains, like Darkseid and Brainiac. That’s why it’s surprising that his nemesis is Lex Luthor, a man without any superpowers.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s James Gunn‘s DCU taking shape with the debut of his take on Superman. On the red carpet of Monday’s world premiere, the writer and director told Deadline how he took a “lighter” approach to the DC Comics superhero that gets back to “the color and the joy” of