I Have Questions About The Coming James Gunn Era Of DC

While whoever took the reins of DC was always going to have a tough time, the beginning of the James Gunn era, who is now running the place with Peter Safran, has seemed…especially turbulent.

While I like many things James Gunn has done over the years, going back to his past work, and hearing about at least some of his plans for the future, questions keep coming up in my mind about whether this has a chance of working out or not as DC, for the second or third time, tries to create something akin to the MCU.

Why Not Keep Henry Cavill as Superman?

Look, I understand that this absurd dream scenario of Zack Snyder returning to DC to finish off his Justice League arcs and make Man of Steel 2 himself was never going to happen, but in this case, I feel like there had to be a middleground here. If there was anything all DC fans seemed to agree on, it was that Henry Cavill was perfect as Clark Kent/Superman. Now, Gunn has set up whatever new young actor will play the role next for failure as he will be compared to Cavill, when it seems like even if they reset universe continuity, they could have kept Cavill himself in the part.

Is Gunn’s Style Right For DC?

Appointing James Gunn to lead everything feels a little bit odd, given that his main contribution to DC was the second Suicide Squad movie, which was well-reviewed, but performed poorly at the box office. Gunn, across Marvel and DC, is generally into more obscure, quirky characters, hence things like making an entire Peacemaker show (which is good!) but it’s unclear how that will translate to say, main JLA members. And early rumblings about his plans to incorporate even more non-main characters as major DC tentpoles seems…odd, like a theoretically idea to strip Jason Momoa out of the billion-grossing Aquaman series and make him Lobo instead.

Was It Wise To Totally Embarrass The Rock?

While I get that The Rock sort of overstepped his bounds a bit by trying to shape the DC universe to heavily feature Black Adam, but going this hard in the other direction, and undoing his long, hard fight to bring Cavill’s Superman back, has been nothing short of total embarrassment for a man who I imagine does not enjoy being embarrassed. The Rock is a cultural force and the highest paid actor in Hollywood. He was exceptionally passionate about DC and its future but now has simply been erased from the narrative. Again, there are ways to change the guard without making powerful enemies, and my guess is that’s now happened behind the scenes with Mr. Johnson here.

The DCU Includes Video Games Now?

This was one thing that Gunn said that made me think maybe he’s being overly ambitious about universe continuity, that it would include not just TV and movies, but video games as well. There’s a reason even Marvel hasn’t tried to tie video games into the MCU, because game development takes a long, long time and is fraught with delays. It’s the same reason you almost never seen video game tie-in games for movies anymore, because it resulted in rushed production and often, terrible products. I’m just wondering if Gunn realizes how challenging it would be to incorporate DC canon video games into a TV and movie schedule.

What Happens to the Multiverse?

While the Snyderverse and DCEU is the main thing being dismantled, the way DC is currently arranged, you have to wonder what exactly is happening to…everything else that’s currently being made inside it. The Arrowverse is dying of old age so that’s pretty much over. But what about Titans and Doom Patrol and Superman and Lois? Presumably Harley Quinn, the animated series, is safe because James Gunn himself appeared for multiple cameos last season, and he clearly loves it. But what about Matt Reeves Batman universe which is supposed to spawn a sequel and two HBO shows? Gunn shot down reports that he was integrating that into his DCU plans, but he didn’t fully deny he was either. A lot of open questions here, including some lingering Snyder ones, like why, if Cavill is out as Superman, is Ezra Miller’s Flash still coming out?

I like Gunn’s past work, Guardians, Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, all the way back to Slither. But from what I’ve seen so far here, I have quite a few concerns. We’ll see how things take shape in the months and years to come, but it’s a somewhat off-putting start to say the least.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.