Earlier this week, a good chunk ofJames Gunn’splans for the next eight to ten yearsat DC were unveiled, but is that too long a chunk of time to be looking ahead? With both the public’s interest in superhero films seemingly waning in recent years and the DC film brand being tarnished in the 2010s, it seems as though it would be in the best interest for Gunn and co. to go into full damage control. While it does have its passionate fans, theSnyder-verse era of DC films put quite a bit of fans off. What started with an incredibly dour tone ended up moving into a clumsy lighter fare, with films that misshapenly echoed what the folks over at Marvel have always been successful at putting on screen. This was an era riddled with insecurities, something that Gunn seemingly has no problem with. While the company seems to be confident in the slate to come, they seemsoconfident that they are not in any hurry to course correct the public perception of their A-list superheroes, barringSuperman: Legacy, a film coming in 2025. Will audiences care about superhero movies a decade from now in the way that they did whenAvengers: Endgamehit in 2019, or will the public interest continue to drop off, and this plan proves to be too laid back?
No One Wants to be In Gunn’s Shoes
It would be silly to say that anyone wants to be put in James Gunn and co-CEOPeter Safran’sshoes. They’re having to jump into a company that, while recently releasing more successful and acclaimed films likeThe BatmanandJoker, has been caring less about how their films coalesce. For the last five years or so, it’s been a “let’s throw everything at the wall and see what sticks”. It’s a method that has given them more hits than they’ve had in the better part of a decade, but has also made the multiversal aspect of DC a bit tough to keep up with. There was a time when it sounded like we would havethree or four different on-screen Batmenrunning around in different series, multiple Jokers, different Supermen, you get the idea - it was looking like a lot. This loose strategy came in the wake of a studio that tried its best to replicate Marvel’s tightly-knit shared universe tactics, with many of their lighter characters being given a grim-dark treatment that they did not deserve. The studio has been all over the place in the last decade, so it’s great to see a creative force like Gunn come into the equation and steer the ship after years without a captain.
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The Plan Moving Forward
As Gunn took to video earlier this week and explained the plan moving forward for DC, he made it clear that there would be a main, streamlined story for these characters to exist in, while series like theMatt ReevesBatmanfilms andTodd Phillips’Jokerfilms will exist in “Elseworlds”. So while those series will continue, it has been confirmed that big, A-list corners of the Snyder-verse will be revamped… but not for some time. A new take on Superman is coming withSuperman: Legacyin 2025, but that’s the only major character with a set and confirmed date. An eventual new Batman film was announced withThe Brave and the Bold, at some point there will be a television show about Themyscira (the island Wonder Woman hails from) calledParadise Lost, but that’s about it. Otherwise, Gunn is filling out the slate by doing what he does best - adapting B-rate to flat-out obscure comic book characters. While promising for big comic book fans, there seems to be no urgency toward the public’s greater perception of DC. This slate of films feels laid back, not in any sort of rush at all… something that could go one of two ways.
This Could Work Out Great
Taking a route that prioritizes titles likeThe Authority,Booster Gold, andCreature Commandosmight leave fans scratching their heads, but this could be a good thing. When the MCU was just beginning, Marvel Studios didn’t have the rights to characters like Spider-Man or the X-Men, so they had to begin building their universe with B and C-rate characters. That’s right, there was a time when 2008’sIron Manor 2011’sThorfelt like a gamble because these characters were not considered A-listers yet. Even by 2014, two years after the firstAvengersfilm, James Gunn’s firstGuardians of the Galaxymovie felt like the studio’s biggest gamble yet. These characters were C-rate at best, yet Gunn and Marvel were able to break them through into the mainstream. With Gunn having accomplished that and now taking the reins at DC, this approach of adapting numerous comic oddities shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. If anything, it could reinvigorate audiences by investing them in characters thataren’tjust another new Batman - we’re starting pretty fresh.
Will Anyone Care About Superhero Movies Soon?
This could also backfire on DC big time. Audiences are clearly starting to lose interest in superhero movies. Despite being released to critical acclaim,The Batmanonly grossed $770.9 million at the box office last year. It feels silly to look at that number as disappointing, but there was a time not too long ago when superhero movies became an almost-guarantee to cross the billion-dollar mark at the box office, let alone a Batman film. Not only did last year’s most acclaimed DC film not make the money that was expected, but a superhero film starring one of the biggest actors in the business right now was released -Black AdamstarringDwayne Johnson. Somehow, a movie with this much going for it ended up bombing, making $393 million on a projected $190-$260 million production budget. The biggest surprise of all is that none of the three MCU films from 2022 made a billion dollars - something that used to be a surefire guarantee! The public is still showing up for these movies, but they aren’t showing up in the way that they used to.
That’s where this laid-back approach to DC’s upcoming slate feels the riskiest. With the public’s interest in superheroes fading, it feels as though getting everyone back on board with great, brand-new takes on Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman would be the best way to reinvigorate things. They need to be getting people excitednow, not wading into the water. Instead, we’re kicking things off with…Creature Commandos? As stated before, this batch of projects is speculated to come out over the next eight to ten years. So audiences might have to wait until 2030 for this universe’s take on Batman? If people are already starting to lose interest now across all superhero fronts, will anyone be excited about what DC has to offer in the long term? If these first few entries, most of which are obscure, fail to get people excited, it’s hard to imagine all of these projects actually coming to fruition, especially if the timeline is looking at eight to ten years.
The road to success truly could be to get people invested in properties that they haven’t seen a million times. Two questions - how many more Batman reboots are you interested in sitting through, and how manyBooster GoldTV shows have you seen? The second sounds more appealing, right? Even if you have no idea who Booster Gold is! That’s the magic James Gunn works, though. Just when you think he can’t manage to get you on board with, say, Rocket Raccoon or Polka-Dot Man, he turns these characters into fan favorites. Only time will tell if Gunn and Safran’s dicey, long-term plan for DC will pay off. Years from now, we could be looking back and laughing at the idea that we ever doubted James Gunn, just as we did withGuardians of the GalaxyandThe Suicide Squad.
