The new DC movie universe has found its Kryptonite: corporate takeovers.
It wasn’t but 16 months ago when “Superman” busted on to the big screen and, under the director of DC Studios honchos James Gunn and Peter Safran, a revamped world of superfriends and dastardly enemies appeared ready to soar. Now, just a little while after Skydance’s high-profile merger
of Paramount Pictures and DC’s parent Warner Bros., Gunn and Safran are out.Maybe some stockholders are happy about that. For moviegoers and superhero film fans, it’s a Batarang to the gut.
Gunn and Safran have only been in their jobs for four years — not nearly enough time to craft a cinematic universe that could be a true rival to mighty Marvel — but even as of this summer, they were doing
OK. While their projects were more standalone than interconnected, the emphasis seemed to be focused more on developed characters and themes rather than grand plans leading to blockbuster crossovers.
That was where Zack Snyder’s universe of DC films failed, trying to be Marvel. Yet DC felt fresh in its early days last year with the likes of "Superman,” with a Man of Steel in David Corenswet’s Man of Steel who like Christopher Reeve back in the day led with kindness and compassion, and the off-the-wall, ultraviolent workplace comedy “Peacemaker.”
This year, “Supergirl” was a sci-fi adventure that didn’t impress as the box office but was a good launching pad for Milly Alcock’s title character. HBO’ “Lanterns” gave the DCU an intriguing take on the space cops of comic-book lore with some social commentary. And “Clayface” has done decent business by embracing something different, not only with an emphasis on horror but also a deep dive into an obscure Batman villain.
Now? All that’s up in the air. Gunn just finished filming the “Superman” sequel “Man of Tomorow (in theaters July 9), which was going to be an intermingling of many folks from the aforementioned stuff. That’s assumed to still be coming out, but Warner Bros. did shelve an entire “Batgirl” movie one time so any depressing thing is possible.
“The Batman II,” which exists in a different world than the main DCU, has its own problems with director Matt Reeves stepping away and Steven Soderbergh coming in to finish. But everything else seemingly in the works — from “The Brave and the Bold” (which was to be the solo-movie debut of Gunn and Safran’s chosen Batman) to a “Swamp Thing” movie — could be DOA.
The good news is the latest new DC guy knows his stuff. Jeremy Latcham, a former protege of MCU head man Kevin Feige who worked closely on many of that universe’s formative projects such as “The Avengers” and Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” has been tapped for the big job and likely will bring the Marvel interconnected mind-set to the DCU. That might mean he keeps a few integral pieces— signing on Corenswet long term is the smartest thing they could do right now — or perhaps it’s another complete reboot.
So who’s to blame for this mess? Did Skydance need new blood in there for an overhaul, or did Gunn and Safran want out? It seems to be the latter: Although heading up DC was a “dream come true,” Gunn confessed in an Instagram post that the last four years “has been trying, to say the least.” He found it difficult to juggle “projects I’m incredibly passionate about and the ones I’m not so much” as well as being a studio head.
Like a lot of folks, Gunn probably loved having a creative life more than a corporate one, which is understandable on a personal level. DC isn’t better for it, however, because, more than anyone other than Feige, he understands superheroes in a modern context and why we still need those myths.
He added that he’s writing one other DC project, though Marvel would likely welcome him back with open arms — they have their own creative issues and Gunn would a welcome part of that particular solution. As for DC, it might be time to just pack up their plans for a large-scale connected universe. Instead of more things like the wonderfully bonkers-sounding "Superman" spinoff show "The People vs. Gorilla Grodd," get ready for a whole bunch of Batman movies.
The Snyderverse didn’t work, and this almost feels like a bigger fail. Gunn’s going to be just fine. But Superman, Batman and their pals? Our heroes are stuck in a sort of Phantom Zone, trapped in corporate limbo where even they can’t punch their way out.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Without James Gunn, DC's trapped in a corporate Phantom Zone
