Director James Gunn’s “Superman” took in $21 million in Thursday night previews at the box office and looks poised to become not only a huge hit, but a terrific starting point for the DC Studios’ co-Chief’s new rebooted DC Universe. But you’ll recall, DC was in a terrible place for many years following the fumbled Zack Snyder era and the many blundered eras that followed (run by Geoff Johns, Walter Hamada, etc.).
DC tried dozens of things over the years, especially when Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav took over. Some of those decisions resulted in things like the “Batgirl” film getting canceled.
READ MORE: James Gunn Says J.J. Abrams/Ta-Nehisi Coates ‘Superman’ Film Hasn’t Been Shelved Yet
At one point, Warner Bros. spent $250 million to hire J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot studios to develop dozens of DC projects—none of which came to fruition and one of those was a Black Superman script by acclaimed writer Ta-Nehisi Coates (separate from the “Black Superman” project that Micheal B. Jordan was developing).
What happened to that project? A new Wall Street Journal piece about DC Studios alleges that Zaslav deep-sixed the project for reportedly being “too woke.”
The script, apparently, was set during the Civil Rights era. All the WSJ says is that Zaslav “dismissed” the screenplay while adding that “Gunn and [co-DC Studios CEO Peter] Safran could still try to make the movie in the future,” though honestly, given how much Gunn already killed from the DC eras that were not his own, this feels unlikely and more like PR to soften the blow to the WB/Coates relationship.
Zaslav dismissing a “woke” Superman, whatever that means—one could argue Gunn’s version, about to be a hit, is “woke” given he’s described the movie as an immigrant story and one about hope, kindness and civility—is perhaps not a surprise.
The CEO is reportedly a conservative Trump supporter, a bottom-line bean counter. WBD has reportedly scaled back its emphasis on DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) thanks to the term being weaponized by Fox News and the Trump administration. Zaslav was reportedly behind CNN’s shift to be more conservative in its bias as well, so there’s at least a lot of evidence that suggests anything remotely too empathetic, or vaguely social political is not his favorite (again, maybe he should actually watch Gunn’s tolerant-friendly “Superman,” it’s bottom line message in the Man Of Steel’s final speech to Lex Luthor is that outsiders and immigrants are what make us stronger, more special and less divided; read our review).
Personally, if I were a betting man, I would put all the money I had that the new DC Studios won’t make that movie, but it would surely be welcome if they did.
As for DC Studios, with “Superman” a guaranteed hit, they are free to move forward with their upcoming “Supergirl” and “Clayface” movies, and we’ll have to see what comes after those.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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