Upheaval at DC: "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn takes over as co-head of the newly founded DC Studio. The linked DC cinema films in particular are to benefit from this.
Gunn is taking over the entire DC universe - except "The Batman" and "Joker"
DC wants James Gunn to be the new Kevin Feige
The rest is history.
Titelbild: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe has changed. Changed indeed. Because what actor Dwayne Johnson originally promised about his new superhero film "Black Adam" has now become reality: Director James Gunn is taking over as co-head of the newly formed DC Studio, part of the new Warner Bros. Discovery empire. He is joined by "Aquaman" producer Peter Safran. Gunn and Safran thus succeed the only recently ousted ex-CEO Walter Hamada. DC Film, Hamada's former division, was buried right along with him.
It's an "unprecedented", downright "shocking" move to hand the reins of an entire movie studio to one director, reports industry magazine The Hollywood Reporter. And then, of all things, one who has celebrated his greatest successes with projects by arch-enemy Marvel. But it is also a move that suits the new Warner CEO David Zaslav. Shortly after taking office, the manager, who is considered a traditionalist, had the 80-million TV project "Batgirl" cancelled without replacement. Feature films belonged in cinemas, not on streaming platforms, Zaslav said, but "Batgirl" was not big and spectacular enough for a feature film. Zaslav thus made it clear right at the beginning of his reign that new strings would be pulled at the comic giant.
James Gunn and Peter Safran's mission is obvious with the newly founded studio: To finally establish the DC Universe as an equal counterpart to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Gunn is to concentrate on the creative side of the studio, while Safran will take care of the business side. Remaining autonomously in charge will be Matt Reeves "The Batman" films and spin-off series as well as Todd Phillips "The Joker" sequel. Gunn will not direct any more Marvel films after completing post-production on the third "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie, which hits theatres in May 2023.
This completes Gunn's emancipation from Marvel and Disney. We remember: with the two "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, he not only achieved two of his biggest box-office successes, but two of the most popular Marvel films ever. That's exactly why Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige had big plans for Gunn - until 2018. When ancient tweets from Gunn, long since deleted but unearthed again, sparked a media shitstorm, Marvel parent Disney was forced to fire Gunn. For a year. Then Gunn was hired again. No one at Marvel wanted to make the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie without Gunn. Not even the actors.
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In the meantime, however, the director was already cozying up to the enemy. When DC offered him the job of director on the soft reboot of the failed "Suicide Squad", the American immediately accepted. Gunn, who actually made it big in the horror business with "The Conjuring", seemed to be unleashed without the restrictions of the family-friendly Marvel universe: his "The Suicide Squad" is considered a great critical and audience success. The series spin-off "Peacemaker" is even more popular. And Warner boss Zaslav began initial talks to pry Gunn from Kevin Feige's clutches and make him - ironically - the "new Kevin Feige" of the DC Universe.
