It’s a very confusing and conflicting time to be a DC fan right now
It’s crazy to think that a universe with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman would be one of the most troubled in cinematic history. It’s no secret that over the last decade, the DC Extended Universe has been a bit of a mess. With no direction, they’ve been spinning their wheels in place unable to move forwards. On top of that, things only got worse with the Warner Bros. and Discovery merger last year. The constant behind-the-scenes struggles have been hindering DC for too long and squandering any potential long-term success.
When Zack Snyder was handed the keys to DC’s kingdom, nobody could have foreseen what was about to play out. The Snyderverse was DC’s first attempt at getting this modern shared universe going, but it was doomed from the start. While Snyder had noble intentions when making Man of Steel in 2013, things quickly went off the rails after Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice was released in 2016. Executives at Warner Bros. saw the possibility to create a shared universe and crammed too much content into BvS. They rushed building their cinematic universe in one movie which ended up being the single biggest mistake they made. It also doesn’t help that the characterization of BvS’ titular characters is wildly off with some truly odd story choices. The poor critical reception and box office failings of what should have been a huge profit made them rethink their strategy and confidence in Snyder’s vision. Constant studio interference was plaguing the set of 2017’s Justice League, and after the tragic death of his daughter, Snyder stepped away from directing the movie. This troubling and heartbreaking process led to the dissolution of the Snyderverse altogether.
While that era of the DCEU wasn’t as big of a success as they hoped, they spent the next few years focusing on what worked. 2017’s Wonder Woman was very well received and showed that DC had something here. They put their energy into standalone movies to develop their characters more like they originally should have. The biggest difference in this new era was that there wasn’t a consistent person as the face of DC making all the creative decisions. The roles of vice president and chief creative officer were changing hands year after year. On top of all that, the DC Films division of Warner Bros. had to report to several higher-ups before any decisions could be finalized.
Things were working for DC to an extent with this business model. They were actually making movies, but their most popular characters were noticeably absent. The people in power were keeping Superman off the silver screen despite Henry Cavill’s ambitions to keep playing the character. Ben Affleck was done with Batman after the frustrating production of Justice League. This period was a strange one to watch play out because it seemed that higher-ups couldn’t decide on what they wanted this universe to be. When it looked like some concrete choices were being made they would be replaced by someone new and the cycle begins again. While it had its glaring issues, I think DC’s model was actually working pretty well and set them apart from every other superhero franchise. It wasn’t built to last, but just focusing on making good movies that stood on their own had its benefits.
The problems once again came when executives wouldn’t commit to one idea. They were greenlighting seemingly every project that came their way while movies like The Flash were stuck in development hell. The refusal to commit to a single idea was not only tearing the franchise apart but the fanbase as well. A very vocal minority was still harassing Warner Bros. to restore Zack Snyder’s vision after they let him finish his version of Justice League in 2021. Then all of a sudden you had The Rock show up to try and strongarm his way into gaining control of the entire universe while Black Adam made $9 at the box office. At the same time, the Warner Bros. Discovery merger was happening which brought drastic changes with it. They began canceling almost every project in development and even the nearly finished Batgirl movie, making it look like they wanted DC to fail. It was a very chaotic time at DC where the future was incredibly uncertain and divided.
This isn’t to say that they were making bad movies though. The Batman may have been an Elseworld movie, but it was DC’s magnum opus and a masterpiece that belongs in the conversation with some of the greatest films ever. Birds of Prey is one of my all-time favorite comic book movies. Shazam! is an underrated and really fun movie. Aquaman is an insane and adventurous fever dream with an octopus playing the drums which we don’t talk enough about. The Suicide Squad is perhaps the best movie in the entire DCEU up to that point, (which is important to remember for later). While these side character-focused movies were successful, the lack of direction was limiting their full potential. Huge changes needed to be made in order to thrive and that is where James Gunn comes in.
In October 2022, Warner Bros. created the brand new DC Studios with James Gunn and Peter Safran named co-chairs and co-CEOs of the new production studio. After years of waiting, we finally have someone in charge of DC that can shape the universe into something without restraints. Just last week on January 31st after months of waiting we finally got our first look at Chapter 1 of the new DC Universe: Gods and Monsters. With all the discussion around Gunn and his universe, I truly believe that he’s the right person to determine the next few years of DC storytelling.
Gunn made himself a household name when he directed 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’s part of only a handful of directors who can claim that they’ve actually worked with Marvel and been a part of the most successful cinematic universe ever. The experience that Gunn gained working in the MCU is going to be instrumental in the development of this new DC Universe. He’s able to see how something that successful operates while making any necessary changes to make it even better in his eyes. We’ve already seen him make some changes by having film, TV, animation, and gaming all connected which also sets it apart from the MCU. Gunn also stated in an interview with Gizmodo that “We’re a lot more planned out than Marvel from the beginning because we’ve gotten a group of writers together to work that story out completely.” He’s in a unique position to take that past experience from Marvel and adapt it to DC in a way that nobody else could.
Even just looking at Gunn’s past work, it’s hard to deny the filmmaking talent he possesses. Just looking at the three comic book movies he’s made, we can see that he has a gift when it comes to this stuff. The Guardians of the Galaxy were unknown characters before he came along and he turned them all into household names with each movie making more money than the last. If you had told someone back in 2014 that a GotG movie was going to make $863 million dollars you’d be locked up. His approach to storytelling grounds these larger-than-life characters in reality and makes you feel for them. He made me emotional for a tree and a talking raccoon* which goes to show how good his writing is. And then in case there was any doubt at all, he did it AGAIN when he made The Suicide Squad for DC. After the disaster that was 2016’s Suicide Squad, he managed to soft-reboot the franchise and make me cry over A RAT. Do you know how impressive that is??? Even his spin-off Peacemaker TV show that he managed to write in two months is touted as one of the all-time great comic book shows. He understands the medium more than most directors and has what it takes to make sure DC is putting out quality programming.
That understanding of comic book movies is the biggest reason why I think Gunn is the best choice to run DC. You can clearly see his passion for the subject matter and how much he cares for it. He isn’t just doing this to collect a paycheck, he puts a lot of love into what he does. He respects the source material and wants to build off of it. For any superhero movie to work, you need someone who knows what they’re doing to make it work. A huge reason why DC’s universe was suffering last time was that the executives at Warner Bros. didn’t care enough about what was being made. Gunn is someone who is passionate about comics and has done his research. We’ve already seen him promoting the comics these movies and shows are based on which is a very promising sign. He’s read and loves these stories and wants to see them done justice in live action. The affection he has for the source material is going to help his universe flourish.
With the first part of Chapter 1 announced, we can already see positive changes being made to the DCU. The focus on characters new and old gives fresh reimaginings that audiences can get behind while introducing new stories that haven’t been on the big screen before. Superman is finally coming back to the big screen, but so is Supergirl in one of the best stories in DC’s recent comic history. The new plan for the DCU seems to be a partial reboot and I think that’s the smart way to go. Keep the things that worked and make them work even better, all while giving new interpretations of what failed in the past. I also really like how the universe is going to be taking over different tones and genres. We’ll get a horror Swamp Thing movie and a comedy series around the greatest hero you’ve never heard of, Booster Gold (which is the DCU project I’m most excited about). And the icing on the cake of it all is that the Elseworlds projects outside of the DCU are still going to continue. Matt Reeves still gets to work in his masterful Batverse, while Todd Phillips can make more Joker movies that exist. The most exciting part is that this is only part of Chapter 1 revealed. With two movies and shows planned to be released every year for the next decade, there’s finally a plan in place to get the DCU back on track. After years of constant power struggles behind the scenes, Gunn and Safran’s new DC Studios is a reassuring sign of hope for the future.
*For legal reasons Rocket is not a raccoon.
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