After months of headlines and behind-the-scenes changes at Warner Bros. Discovery about the future of their DC films, it was officially announced that filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran have been tasked with co-directing the newly formed DC Studios, the replacement for DC Films. James Gunn is no stranger to the superhero genre, as he directs the Guardians of the Universe trilogy for Marvel and has already worked for DC and directed 2021’s The Suicide Squad and creating the spin-off series peacekeeper. Meanwhile, Safran is a successful Warner Bros. producer on the incantation franchise and several DC movies, including: Aquarius, Shazam!, and that of Gunn The Suicide Squad.
Both men replace Walter Hamada, the previous man in charge of DC Films who had both a positive and controversial tenure as head of the division. After David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying he wanted his own Kevin Feige figure for their DC movies, got one by splitting the duties between an established producer and a visionary director who has worked closely with Kevin Feige himself. After months of Black Adam promising that the hierarchy of power in the DC universe would change, it looks like it really does, so here’s a rundown of what this news means for the future of the DC universe.
DCEU is dead… Long live the DCU
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The DC Extended Universe or DCEU was first conceived in 2015 by Entertainment Weekly writer Keith Staskiewicz. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. The name quickly became popular among fans, and although Warner Bros. executives. didn’t adopt the name at first (they even tried to rebrand it as Worlds of DC in 2018), the name stuck, and Warner Bros. officially took it over in 2020. It’s easy to see why the extra letter allows it to differentiate itself from the three-letter MCU, and also the term “extended” implied a connection to other material unrelated to the movies, making space was made for television series or a connection to a wider multiverse.
However, the MCU has now expanded to television and the multiverse as well, and it looks like Warner Bros. wants a simpler, cleaner name. DCU, short for DC Universe, is simple and lets the public know that these movies and series take place together.
DC will most likely not see major changes until 2024
Gunn and Safran will both start their jobs on November 1, 2022. This means Gunn and Safran will be able to green-light, pitch and work on projects such as a new Henry Cavill Superman movie, Wonder Woman 3, or any other project not currently in development. This means that while the two may be running the show now, their original work won’t be on show until 2024 at the earliest.
There’s also the matter of which films the two will inherit. Safran is a producer of three of the four DC movies currently in production: Shazam! Anger of the Gods, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdomand blue beetle, so there’s a good chance that plot elements in those movies could play a bigger role in the future. Interestingly, the only one where he’s not a producer is: The flashthe DC movie that the entire franchise now rests on sadly, as it will give the franchise a soft reboot.
However, The flash was a problem production due to the off-screen behavior of star Ezra Miller and Warner Bros. Discovery is now tasked with marketing a movie with a lead actor that has sparked multiple controversies. Gunn and Safran will now inherit this problem and it is definitely one that they will have to work on. Also worth noting is that Gunn and Safran are not responsible for the coming Joker: Folie à Deux and Matt Reeves’ plan for: the batter sequel and HBO spin-offs. Those films take place outside the continuity of the DCU and are overseen by their respective filmmakers.
Gunn is done with Marvel
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Gunn’s deal with Warner Bros. now means he has an exclusive relationship with them, which means he can’t work for another studio unless Warner Bros. allows this. Don’t expect Gunn to return to the MCU anytime soon, because both The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will now be his last projects for Disney and Marvel Studios for the foreseeable future.
Gunn is clearly finishing both of them guards projects and will do the press for both while he is co-president of DC Studios, so it will certainly make for an interesting press period. One thing is for sure, Kevin Feige is probably very happy for his director and friend.
Don’t expect all DC projects to be James Gunn style
The announcement of James Gunn who heads DC Studios certainly worried some, as they assumed it meant every DC project would have the same tone as The Suicide Squad and peacekeeper. There is certainly reason to believe this, as Warner Bros. originally hired Zack Snyder to shape their entire cinematic universe and his influence is still felt on the franchise long after he left.
But just because Gunn is in charge doesn’t mean he’s going to impose his style on every movie. Gunn will likely be there in an advisory capacity, as he has an in-depth knowledge of comics and the DC universe (as well as insider knowledge of their rivals at Marvel). He can also help develop projects based on DC characters that the studio may not have tried. As a respected director himself, he will probably also be able to count on some very talented filmmakers to join the DCU to direct films.
The Gunn and Safran partnership is likely similar to the dynamics between Michael Eisner, Frank Wells, and Jeffrey Katzenberg in the 1980s at Disney when they turned the company around, or even how Pixar Animation had a creative brain confidence that helps usher in new projects. . Now, both production models had their fair share of issues, as did the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s single-run approach. There really isn’t one right way to do this, but it’s reassuring that they’ve hired people who can handle both the business and the creative aspects of the job.
Exciting time for a DC fan
Everyone who has followed DC Films since then Man of Steel will know it has been a long and tumultuous road. The franchise has shifted through various creative visions and had multiple people running it for such a short time that no real progress could be made. Unlike the MCU, which was gearing up for this comparative point Avengers: Infinity War, the DCU didn’t build for a large-scale event or even a connection attempt. Multiple delays due to COVID-19, changes in tone, and behind-the-scenes scandals have slowed much momentum and anticipation for DC projects.
Now that Gunn and Safran are running the show, there’s reason to be excited. Gunn and Safran were behind some of the most acclaimed (The Suicide Squad, Shazam!) and commercial hits (Aquarius) of the DCU. The two have a fondness for this universe and its characters, and can really realize its potential. Gunn has worked within the MCU for the past decade and got to see firsthand how it’s done. Safran has successfully developed the conjure universe, where the public eagerly awaits both The nun 2 and The incantation 4.
Gunn introduced a wide variety of lesser-known characters from the pages of DC Comics in The Suicide Squad, and now there’s a chance other, oft-overlooked characters will get the chance to shine in the spotlight. There could be a future where heroes like Zatanna, Plastic Man and Booster Gold are as well known to the public as Doctor Strange, Ant-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy are now. These two men seem like the perfect people to usher in the next decade of the DC universe.