When the news broke out that Warner Bros had hired James Gunn as one of the Co-CEOs of the DC Studios, the fandom was elated. Superhero movie fans knew Gunn is a phenomenal director, thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy and his association with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and were confident that this would be DC’s time to shine. The hope turned to shock following some major announcements. We got you covered with all the major changes planned by Co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran as a part of their DC makeover.
- DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is now DC Universe (DCU)
- The sequel to Wonder Woman 1984 has been scrapped
- Henry Cavill hung up his cape as Superman
- Man of Steel 2 canceled
- James Gunn is working on a Superman reboot, featuring a young Clark Kent. Gunn is scripting the project and it would not be an origin story.
- Black Adam sequel is not on the table
- The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, is safe for now
- Ben Affleck could direct an upcoming DC film, says Gunn
- Superman and Wonder Woman cameos were scrapped from The Flash movie
- Gunn and Safran would likely announce a full slate for the upcoming DC projects early next year
James Gunn responds, “Build Upon What Has Worked” and “Rectify What Has Not” on DC’s future
James Gunn planning DC future said, “not going to make every single person happy”
James Gunn, filmmaker responded to the story by The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. The story covered news about the proceedings of the ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ sequel with director Patty Jenkins at Warner Bros, which is not moving ahead. The most expected sequels of Man of Steel with Henry Cavill and Black Adam with Dwayne Johnson are also likely on the dead side. Jason Momoa from ‘Aquaman’ may portray an antihero in DC’s Lobo. These speculations went swirling around social media catching the attention of DC fans.
James Gunn in response to The Hollywood Reporter story wrote on Twitter, “So. As for the story yesterday in the Hollywood Reporter, some of it is true, some of it is half-true, some of it is not true, & some of it we haven’t decided yet whether it’s true or not,”
“Peter & I chose to helm DC Studios knowing we were coming into a fractious environment, both in the stories being told & in the audience itself & there would be an unavoidable transitional period as we moved into telling a cohesive story across film, TV, animation, and gaming,” in his continues tweets, he said “But, in the end, the drawbacks of that transitional period were dwarfed by the creative possibilities & the opportunity to build upon what has worked in DC so far & to help rectify what has not. We know we are not going to make every single person happy every step of the way, but we can promise everything we do is done in the service of the STORY & in the service of the DC CHARACTERS we know you cherish and we have cherished our whole lives.”
It is all up in the hands of Gunn and Peter Safran to put the puzzle pieces together so that the individual movies sit perfectly in the DC timeline. It is to be noted that the DC Studio movie Shazam! Fury of the Gods is lined up to be released in theaters on March 17, 2023.
