It’s not controversial to say that DC films, before James Gunn and Peter Safran took over, were an absolute mess. Not only were many of the films underperforming at the box office and getting savaged by critics, but there was also a complete lack of continuity, with characters appearing on CW shows as well as massive $200 million films. And two of the biggest hits, “The Batman” and “Joker,” aren’t even part of mainstream continuity. It was an absolute mess. And that’s something Gunn and Safran are well aware of.
Speaking in an interview via Variety, James Gunn talked about the struggles of the DC universe of films and TV series before he and Peter Safran took over as co-CEOs of DC Studios. And while you might expect Gunn to be more diplomatic with his words, the executive/filmmaker pulled no punches when talking about the situation he walked into at DC Studios.
“As everyone here probably knows, the history of DC is pretty messed up, it was fucked up,” Gunn said. “No one was minding the mint. They were just giving away IP like they were party favors to any creators that smiled at them.”
When giving examples of just how “fucked up” the universe was before he and Safran took over, Gunn called out the CW Arrowverse, which used so many DC characters in a small-budget setting. He also talked about film failures such as the “Justice League” debacle and the fact that “The Batman” and “Joker” aren’t even part of the real continuity.
All of those reasons, plus middling movies like “Black Adam” and “Birds of Prey,” have led to what is seen, right now at least, as an almost-complete reboot of the DC Universe. The recently unveiled lineup of five films and five TV series point to a brand-new universe of storytelling for DC properties, with an underlying continuity that runs through films, TV series, animation, and even video games. Will Gunn and Safran succeed where so many others failed? The jury is still out on that. But as of now, it appears DC Studios has corrected course and is hopefully going to change the trajectory of DC.
