The DC movie universe has always been a major disappointment. Only some movies, like the Dark Knight Trilogy, have been successful. The DCEU movies directed by Zack Snyder seem to be DC’s biggest failures.
The movies failed due to their gritty and dark tones with weak storylines. CGI failures like Henry Cavill’s face edit and Gal Gadot’s silly dialogue “Kal El No” became meme materials. DC confirmed that it tried to compete with Marvel and emulate the Dark Knight Trilogy’s tone but failed.
But now, director James Gunn, who worked for Marvel before, has stepped in to replace Zack Snyder. Mr. Gunn started his work by making a Superman movie which will take place in a new world. He said that there is still hope for the DC universe despite Zack Snyder’s failures. So let us see what James Gunn is planning to do to make DC movies successful.
What Is James Gunn’s Plan Regarding The DCU?
James Gunn is planning to build a new cinematic universe named as DCU. The universe will start off with the new Superman movie directed by Mr. Gunn. It has David Corenswet as Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. There will be other actors who will play iconic DC characters.
Mr. Gunn ensured that the movie does not have a dark and sad tone like the DCEU movies. It will show Superman going through many struggles while also having fun moments as well. The movie and the entire DCU will have its own unique tone to balance between being funny and dark.
He says that DC does not need to compete or copy Marvel. He has taken a comic accurate approach by making all characters look like their comic book counterparts. Mr. Gunn also stated that his DC projects will be for people from any age group. His movies will not have action or romance scenes that are too adult-rated and are for families.
However, not every DCU project is for family entertainment. This includes the ‘Creature Commandos’ which will take place in the DCU and that too in a dystopian future. James Gunn says that he does not want to repeat the mistakes that his predecessor Zack Snyder did. This includes making movies unnecessarily depressing with CGI failures and weak scripts.
James Gunn also wants his DC movies to feel like action fantasy films from the 80s, 90s and 2000s. You can see this from how the Superman trailer presents all characters. He also wants to keep this movie separate from the DCEU. But he has not confirmed if Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman’ is also a part of this universe or not. In fact, he has not commented anything regarding this matter. Many rumors are stating that another Batman casting will happen for this universe.
Some Final Thoughts
James Gunn has said that DC will make other movies that will not be a part of his shared universe. His ‘Superman’ movie trailer looks promising enough. This is because it does not have a sad and gritty tone despite showing Superman in tough circumstances. You can tell that Mr. Gunn is trying to make DC movies have their own aura. However, there are still some lingering problems.
For example, many people could not take Nathan Fillion’s look as Guy Gardener seriously. In fact, it looks very funny despite being comic-accurate. Mr. Gunn said it’s purpose was to make the characters be exactly like their comic book counterparts.
The DCEU movies also failed due to the actors like Ezra Miller and Amber Heard criminal accusations in real life. So James Gunn wants to recast characters like Flash, Aquaman and many with new faces. For example, he wants Anthony Starr from ‘The Boys’ to play the villain Reverse Flash. Despite Mr. Starr’s past assault accusations, his reputation is nothing compared to that of Ezra Miller. Mr. Gunn does not want to play favoritism and will hire only those who can impress him in screen tests. Hence, you and I can say that some hope is still left for DC movies. James Gunn might finally break the curse due to which DC has never experienced success in movies.
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