James Gunn said he left X (then still known as Twitter) because he was sick of getting drawn into conversations about rumors and spoilers, but the DC Studios co-CEO still can't help giving an occasional response on Threads - especially when someone really gets under his skin!
Possibly still riled up from the Frank Grillo debacle (more on that later), Gunn got very defensive when someone wrote, "Who the F*ck asked for a Clayface movie?"
"Who tf asked for Back to the Future? Casablanca? There's Something About Mary? Pan's Labyrinth? Fury Road? Weapons? The Matrix? Although it may seem like it, Hollywood isn't a place where the only way to make a movie is the public voting on what IP they want to see that they've seen countless times before. Sometimes someone – in this case initially Mike Flanagan and then James Watkins and Hossein Amini – were inspired by a relatively little known fictional character and crafted what I believe is a very special story around that character. I'd take that inspiration a thousand times over some writer trying to make a buck by writing a listless screenplay about a majorly popular character he or she has no passion or feel for."
Gunn does make a valid point, while missing another.
The movies he gives as examples (well, Fury Road was the fourth Mad Max movie... and people were asking for it) were not part of a major cinematic universe featuring some of the most iconic characters in comic book history. Clayface might well turn out to be great, but when you give the go-ahead for a solo film based on a second-tier (and we're probably being generous there) Batman villain before one of DC's premier heroes, you're going to get some pushback.
Gunn also responded to a "rumor" that sprang up on social media that The Boys star Jensen Ackles might be in line to play the DCU's Batman. Speculation arose when a fan noticed that Ackles had started following Gunn on Instagram.
"Thanks for letting me know," Gunn said. "I'm going to follow him back. I met him once 20 years ago when he was dating a friend of mine. Nice guy. We haven't cast him as anything yet."
The Superman director recently confirmed that he has completed an assembly cut of Man of Tomorrow, and is now working on his next DCU movie. Will it feature our next big-screen take on the Dark Knight, perhaps?
DC Studios’ first-ever foray into the genre, Clayface is a horror thriller from director James Watkins, starring Tom Rhys Harries in the title role of the Gotham City villain. Clayface unravels one man’s horrifying descent from rising Hollywood star to revenge-filled monster in a story that explores the loss of one’s identity and humanity, corrosive love, and the dark underbelly of scientific ambition.
The film also stars Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan, as well as Nancy Carroll and Joshua James. James Watkins directs from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, story by Flanagan, based on characters from DC.
Clayface is produced by Matt Reeves, Lynn Harris, James Gunn and Peter Safran, with Michael E. Uslan, Rafi Crohn, Paul Ritchie, Chantal Nong Vo and Lars P. Winther executive producing.