James Gunn Planning To Restart The DC Universe & Upsets Warner Bros!

It seems like DC has already begun catching up to Marvel ever since they put together the MCU. Zack Snyder’s Man Of Steel paved the way for a multitude of superhero movies that had a fast build-up to the Justice League. The Synderverse saw a lot of success with movies like Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Shazam, and the dark Snyderverse amassed a sizable internet fanbase, but things never really came together. It’s time for a fresh start, and by all indications, that’s about to happen.

The last quarter of 2022 carried some groundbreaking news: the future of Warner Bros’ DC-centric films would then end up coming under the newly hoisted banner of DC Studios. This announcement came alongside numerous changes at Warner Bros, including its acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery and the recruitment of David Zaslav as the movie studio’s face. Overseeing that division are None other than James Gunn and executive Peter Safran, who has collaborated on Aquaman, Shazam!, and The Suicide Squad in addition to the anticipated Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom and Blue Beetle.

Together, the two are tasked with reimagining the future of the DC Universe, which has already seen substantial cancellations of initiatives that seemed to have a sure future ( Wonder Woman 3), a variety of rumors about what will happen next, and numerous examples of Gunn himself appearing on Twitter to give latest updates and clarify the situation. The much-awaited DC lineup appears to be on the horizon, so the real question is: if we’re getting a fresh start, what ought to be included in it?

We are aware of a few things. Gunn has stated that he is writing a Superman story, giving Kal-El and crew a new perspective — notably, one without Henry Cavill. Because Cavill abruptly admitted that he wouldn’t be returning to the role after wearing the cape once more in Black Adam’s closing scene and announcing his resignation from The Witcher following the arrival of Gunn and Safran. Gunn hinted at grander aspirations regarding the new Superman with a young casting in a Tweet, saying, “in the earliest stages, our tale will be concentrating on a younger phase of Superman’s existence, therefore the role will not be portrayed by Henry Cavill.”

It’s also normal to anticipate a movie to be spearheaded by Jason Momoa, who just had a pleasant conversation with the new bosses. However, according to internet rumors, he may return as the silver-skinned renegade Lobo instead of Aquaman. While it may seem odd to reintroduce Momoa and not cast him as the DC superhero whose most recent standalone film brought in more than $1 billion, it illustrates Gunn’s strategy of exploring the darker edges of the DC lineup. He said on Twitter that, in addition to the prominent, well-known superheroes, his ideas would also include “several less famous ones” — a strategy Marvel heavily employed in creating the MCU.

If the cast of visionaries Gunn selected for The Suicide Squad is any indication, he’ll be scouring DC’s dodgiest crannies for treasure. Consider DC’s Mister Terrific, whose picture Gunn uploaded in November without any explanation. It’s precisely the kind of hero that, under Gunn’s direction, might receive his own big-screen adventure despite not being a household name and just appearing in a few seasons of Arrow on television. It is also still being determined whether the less well-known DC projects, such as the Zatanna narrative written by Emerald Fennell and the Michael B. Jordan-starring Static Shock movie, will ever see the light of day.

Both have a solid cinematic resume and minimal baggage, but they may not work out in Gunn and Safran’s grand plan. However, we should anticipate a film centered on Green Lantern, a superhero whose single Zack Snyderverse cameo was a brief scene in Justice League. Green Lantern hasn’t appeared on the big screen since Ryan Reynolds’ panned 2011 film. Gunn asserts that the Lantern will continue to be “essential” in the future, regardless of whose incarnation dons the magic ring powered by vision.

The most important question is where the limitations of Gunn and Safran’s lineup will be. Will the “Elseworlds” storylines now in development—including the Joker: Folie Deux sequel, which is currently in production, and Matt Reeves’ The Batman movie exist in separate universes? Or, if transparency and simplification are the goals moving forward, can Gunn’s plans change to incorporate them as actual multiverse narratives? How clean of a lineup will this actually be? Will the final ten years of DC have any connecting threads at all? All indications point to Cavill’s termination, the end of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, and the impending absence of Black Adam. However, Shazam will be released this year. If Fury of the Gods and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom don’t play any part in future DC Studios projects, they might be considered the last links of a fading cosmos though they still have their own conceptual value.

There are still more questions. How on earth will The Flash stack up? Will the upcoming Blue Beetle be regarded as Snyderverse or Gunn-canon? If there are no intentions for The Suicide Squad or Gunn’s new Peacemaker, does this mean that everything is starting over? The Suicide Squad was basically a sequel to David Ayer’s picture in that it brought back Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag. Still, in other respects, it seemed like a harmonically unique and narratively distinctive restart. Gunn only selected the material that functioned and for which he saw a future, used it as he saw fit, and discarded the others. It worked out to be a reasonable strategy.

In any case, when the roster does come out, be prepared for a significant release because Gunn and Safran have reportedly been planning the next ten years’ worth of DC storylines, which will be spread across films, video games, television, and animation. He’s given rise to the possibility of a Ben Affleck-directed project. Additionally, he hinted at the prospect of Kingdom Come, the seminal 1996 comic book saga that featured a generational (and philosophical) confrontation between traditional superheroes and stronger villains, in an illustration by Alex Ross he uploaded with the comment “making plans.” Marvel has demonstrated in recent years that it might be helpful to let your followers know where you’re headed.

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