Think about the last television show you watched...
Did you sit through the introductory credits?
Unless you were watching live cable television and didn't have any other option, you probably didn't. Instead, you likely took advantage of the "Skip Intro" button that usually appears on most streaming services as soon as the introduction begins.
Sure, you might watch them for certain shows. My wife would protest when I'd try to skip the opening credits for Yellowstone, for instance, because she really liked the theme song.
But most introductory credit scenes are simply unremarkable and unworthy of our attention.
James Gunn decided we should pay attention.
And so he created a very different type of introduction for his Peacemaker series.
The opening is undeniably absurd... but that was exactly the point.
When asked about the opening credits shortly after the show premiered, Gunn said:
“I really wanted to do a dance number where everybody was doing something incredibly ridiculous, and looked incredibly serious while they were doing it... I thought it was something that would, you know, be a signpost for people that this isn’t just your normal DC or Marvel TV show.”
Gunn took something most of us have learned to ignore and turned it into something we simply couldn't.
You may not personally be a fan of the show (or the opening sequence), but since that opening credits scene premiered, it's been a top trending topic online and has already "been heralded as one of the most memorable TV moments of 2022."
The song used, "Do You Want To Taste It?", shot up to #1 on the iTunes Rock Chart.
And the internet is filled with videos of people imitating the dance sequence; someone even took weeks to painstakingly create a LEGO animated version good enough to impress James Gunn himself!
If you want to do things the same way everybody else is doing them, you'll end up lost in a sea of sameness and ignored.
If you want to earn people's attention, make something remarkable.
P.S. If you're interested in what was involved in putting this dance sequence and set together, you'll enjoy this article.
P.P.S. If you love the song as much as I do -- and I really, really love it! -- and want to read an amazing story about how the band's fortunes turned around thanks to Gunn, read this.