James Gunn, the newly-instated co-CEO of DC Studios, has responded to yesterday’s bombshell story byThe Hollywood Reporterabout major shakeups in the troubled DC Extended Universe film franchise. In a series of tweets on Thursday, the filmmaker admitted that some of what was reported is true, but also said that it will take some time before he and his co-chairman and CEOPeter Safranare able to provide a clearer look at the franchise’s future.
The THR report cited sources as saying that multiple high-profile films in the DCEU were either being canceled, or being de-prioritized. Chief among them were the already announcedWonder Woman 3, the rumoredMan of Steel 2, and a sequel to the recentBlack Adam. The same report also said thatJason Momoawould be recast as Lobo after the release of next year’sAquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which is expected to conclude his run as the character.
Reacting to the report, Gunn wrote that he and Safran know that they “can’t make every single person happy” along the way, but that the both of them are dedicated to servicing the characters that they, along with legions of fans, have “cherished” their whole lives. In his own words:
“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. Although this first month at DC has been fruitful, building the next ten years of story takes time & we’re still just beginning. 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. 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. As for more answers about the future of the DCU, I will sadly have to ask you to wait. We are giving these characters & the stories the time & attention they deserve & we ourselves still have a lot more questions to ask & answer.”
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The DCEU was launched in 2013 as Warner Bros’ answer to the already established Marvel Cinematic Universe. The series began with a hotly anticipated new take on Superman,Man of Steel. But the trouble started brewing almost immediately, when the film was perceived to have underperformed at the box office, in addition to receiving mixed reviews. The franchise’s de facto architect at the time, filmmakerZack Snyder, went on to make two more movies —Batman v Superman: Dawn of JusticeandJustice League— but by 2017, he had fallen out of favor with the studio, after his films were deemed too dark and declared not as financially successful as they should have been.
In recent years, W.B. has attempted to distance itself from Snyder’s original vision for the series, by releasing more lighthearted movies such asShazam!,Aquaman, andBirds of Preyto decidedly unpredictable results. The cancellation ofWonder Woman 3, the effective conclusion of the Aquaman series, and the unceremonious dismissal ofHenry Cavill’s Superman — don’t forget, he was onlyrecently reinstatedin the role — would signal the heftiest push yet away from what Snyder had set up almost a decade ago.
Gunn was best known for his work in the MCU before jumping ship and directing DC’sThe Suicide Squad. you may read his Twitter thread here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
