James Gunn Was DC Studios’ Last Choice?
According to recent reports, there were many other people asked to head the DCU before James Gunn was brought onboard.
There’s no denying that James Gunn and Peter Safran have had to make some tough choices since being appointed co-heads of DC Studios, and those decisions have led to a fierce wave of backlash from fans. In fact, the former recently took to Twitter to address the disrespectful outcry from fans following the news that Henry Cavill would not be returning as Superman.
With a recent report from Comic Book Resources (via the New York Post) suggesting that Gunn wasn’t even Warner Bros. Discovery’s first choice to oversee the newly rebranded DC Studios, it makes us wonder if any of the company’s other picks could have handled the harassment from online trolls as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy director.
According to the New York Post, from information obtained by an unnamed insider, Warner Bros. Discovery searched high and low for an able body to head their new comic book division. In fact, the studio reportedly pleaded with Joker director Todd Phillips to take on the role, and when he and virtually everybody else in Hollywood declined, James Gunn and Peter Safron were eventually announced as the new heads of DC Studios. Now, the pair is hard at work mapping out a 10-year plan, which will hopefully fix the problematic state of the DC Universe.
Interestingly enough, when James Gunn was fired by Marvel Studios back in 2018 after a series of old social media posts were unearthed and the filmmaker jumped ship to DC to helm a relaunch of The Suicide Squad, fans were absolutely ecstatic. After all, he was able to deliver one of Marvel’s biggest film franchises centered around an obscure team of space misfits. There were calls from fanboys back then for Gunn to oversee the now-defunct DCEU in a Kevin Feige-like role. And now that the scenario is a reality, the filmmaker has faced vicious harassment from all corners of the world wide web.
At this time, it’s still not clear the direction James Gunn and Peter Safran plan to take the DC Universe. However, some recent announcements indicate that they’re planning a complete reboot of what was once referred to as the DCEU.
In addition to the news that Henry Cavill would be hanging up his Superman cape, it’s also been reported that both his and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman cameos in the upcoming film The Flash have been scrapped. Even crazier is the recent revelation that Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam may not have a place in the DC Universe going forward, after making his long-awaited debut just a few months ago.
James Gunn may have been Warner Bros. Discovery’s last choice to oversee DC Studios, but it hasn’t resulted in the filmmaker taking his new position any less seriously. As he and Peter Safran continue to outline the DC Universe’s upcoming slate of films, fans are left to wonder if any of their favorite actors from the Snyderverse will be spared. At this point, it’s merely a waiting game, and there’s nothing we can do but sit patiently and see how things play out.
