Back in January, Warner Bros. Discovery officially launched DC Studios and James Gunn and Peter Safran were enlisted to unveil a slate of upcoming movies and TV shows which will all be part of the new DCU.
There were plenty of projects to get excited about but the downside to the announcement was that it cut 2023's DCEU offerings off at the knees. Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, and Blue Beetle all bombed, with at least part of the reason being fans were aware the movies no longer mattered to what's on the horizon.
Throw in the fact we're getting a mix of new and returning actors (the vast majority of whom worked with Gunn on The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker), and there's a fair bit of confusion surrounding the DCU reboot.
The filmmaker and studio boss recently answered some fan questions on Threads, including from someone who quite rudely pointed out that, despite talk of the DCU being cohesive, there are a lot of projects out or on the way which don't tie into that. However, what they failed to grasp is that the DCU hasn't started yet!
"Not sure where the anger is from, but you misunderstand," Gunn said. "DC projects being spread across different platforms, so that more people have access to the stories, is not the same as not having any cohesion in the DCU timeline, which we very much do (starts with Creature Commandos)."
"Merry Little Batman on Amazon is a fun animated kids' movie that was already being made when we came aboard, but Elseworld animated projects like this will keep happening. I’m not sure how that’s confusing." Later poking fun at the prospect of someone mixing up that animated movie with Matt Reeves' plans for The Batman franchise, Gunn added, "I also am picturing The Batman 3 being an adaptation of Merry Little Batman."
Later, the Superman: Legacy helmer shared his thoughts on where the DCEU went wrong and how the DCU will differ.
"One of the problems with DCEU content in the past was there was no real consistency within the universe itself. This never meant - [and] I never said, as this is how we always envisioned it - all animated [and] video game content would be in the DCU."
"I did ([and] still) say MOST TV [and] film will be in the DCU with the occasional Elseworld tale (like Matt's The Batman), but it will have to be exceptional. Never mentioned streaming services but I like more people able to watch DC stories."
When the DCU was announced, it did sound like everything was going to fall under the same umbrella and take place in one world. So, Gunn's comments were either misunderstood or Warner Bros. Discovery has concluded that it's not an overly realistic approach to DC storytelling.
Either way, it's not just the DC Universe that Gunn is developing as he also confirmed there are "some non-DC Vertigo and other titles we are working on."
Stay tuned for updates.