I suppose a man with a name like James Gunn was always destined to be the new sheriff in town. That “town” is DC Studios, and two months ago, Gunn – a filmmaker and producer – was announced as its new co-chair and co-CEO. The appointment made sense on paper: Gunn is a well-established presence in the superhero game thanks to his unexpectedly popular Guardians of the Galaxy films (for Marvel) and DC’s offbeat The Suicide Squad (2021). For around a decade, DC has languished in its efforts to set up a coherent film franchise, despite owning the rights to many of the most treasured and recognisable characters in fiction. There have been successes, sure – the warmly reviewed Wonder Woman; the billion-dollar-grossing Aquaman – but they have been piecemeal, strung together in a woolly matrix of duds and also-rans. In the meantime, Marvel, DC’s main rival, has sped ahead, slickening its production line into a soullessly efficient churn where even obscure releases are all but guaranteed box-office success.
Gunn’s arrival (alongside his co-boss, producer Peter Safran) signals a massive strategic overhaul for DC. From now on, its decision-making – which films to make, which comics to adapt, which actors to cast – has been given a human face. Not just any face, but that of a modern, online celebrity, one with a social media following 1.4 million strong. In the weeks since his hiring, Gunn has already proved quick on the trigger, upending fans’ expectations of what the DC Universe has in the pipeline. Henry Cavill’s Superman? Out. A third Wonder Woman film? Binned. A sequel to Black Adam? Don’t hold your breath. All the while, Gunn has been enthusiastically engaging with fans on Twitter, answering questions and hinting at plans – rubbishing certain rumours while fuelling others. People have been hurling their two cents at him like he’s the Trevi Fountain. But anyone hoping for a “town hall” approach to moviemaking should know it’s never going to fly. There’s nothing less conducive to art than the cacophony of social media.
