Take a socially awkward middle-aged man with too much free time, give him bizarre ideas (like dressing up as a masked vigilante and literally telling crime to “shut up”), and you get the comic book satire Super. Rainn Wilson has the task of bringing this misfit man to life — a portrayal that isn’t exactly new territory for him, seeing as he's mastered it as Dwight on NBC's hit The Office. Surely when thinking who to cast in the lead role, Writer/Director James Gunn must have had Wilson in mind.
He chose wisely.
Wilson plays Frank D’Arbo, who welcomes us into his world with the understanding that there are two — and only two — days of which he is proud. The first being his wedding day; the second that time he pointed a police officer in the direction of a criminal. Frank is the kind of guy you almost assume is a loner, and therefore feel bad for. Although he isn’t quite a loner at first, things quickly get out of hand.
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2011.