James Gunn's DCU: Embracing the Morrisonverse

Here are just a few of our plans. Up, up, and away! #DCStudios #DCU @DCComics pic.twitter.com/8XNDNLUEPq

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) January 31, 2023

I mean these are basically all good choices as far as I can see?

Doom Patrol/Watchmen team do a Suicide Squad spin off, Gunn does presumably fun takes on Creature Commandos and Booster Gold, Morrison's takes on Superman and Batman and Green Lantern and The Authority, Tom King on Supergirl, pseudo-Moore horror anthology for Swamp Thing.

i assume he was given Flash and Shazam and Blue Beetle and told to make it work.

I hope everybody gets paid and these stay story forward in the same way Peacemaker was.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/zachary-levi-anti-vaxx-pfizer-tweet-james-gunn-responds-1235507013/

yeah between that ezra miller, they really handed him a bag of shit to start with
i assume he has final approval for casting moving forward considering how immensely fucked up it's been until now

are they bringing back rpatz???

Separate continuity:

https://gizmodo.com/the-batman-2-title-release-date-robert-pattinson-dcu-1850053257

Separately, group interview with Gunn and Safran:

https://gizmodo.com/james-gunn-dc-slate-info-flash-aquaman-justice-league-1850051467

Well, Gunn's definitely not, uh, thrilled about the past:

Gunn: The history has been shit. It’s been a real fucked up journey for DC. I think that there was basically no one minding the mint and they were giving out IP to any creatives that, you know, smiled at whoever was in charge. There was never any real power given to the people in charge. And so somebody could always go over their head and do whatever they wanted. And, you know, we had the DCEU, which then became the Joss Whedon Justice League, but it also became the Snyderverse, which became this. And we have Wonder Woman and we have Wonder Woman [1984], which doesn’t even match what happened in Wonder Woman one. And then we have the Arrowverse and even us, coming in with The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. And then all of a sudden Batmite is a real guy.

This is not the Gunnverse

cautiously optimistic this won't be as flat and predictable as MCU

Peacemaker bought a LOT of goodwill from me. Hard to think of anyone else I would even be even slightly optimistic taking the controls.

The problem with the DCEU wasn't that the continuity was poor. It was that its tentpole films sucked -- superman, superman v batman, justice league were all terrible, wonder woman 1 was ok. The continuity problems came afterwards when WB went into panic mode.

I bet half of these newly announced projects don't come out as described.

what's Bat-Mite in?!

that zachary levi thing is disappointing, he convincingly plays likable people; good actor then I guess because he appears to be a shit. that said I'll probably still see that since I liked the first one and I watched Leticia Wright in WakandaForever.

Maybe Zachary Levi just wants stringent price controls on the COVID vaccine.

its tentpole films sucked

I blame Snyder for that more than WB tho

James Gunn def a good creative choice, his movies are fun for one thing. Also I was a big fan of the most recent Batman flick, a pretty swift 170+ min and compellingly slow burn atmospheric vs the diminishing returns of the Nolan approach. I kinda hope they do keep it separate from the rest of the DCU, and Joker-free.

sic otm give me Bat-Mite

Bat-Mite is mentioned in the second episode of the DC Extended Universe series Peacemaker, "Best Friends, For Never", when John Economos mentions he would rather be working with Bat-Mite than Peacemaker.

I watched and liked Peacemaker but don’t remember that joke BUTTTT also I like it (and/but have 0 opinion over whether it means bat-mite is a dude)

Oh man, please please please gimme a good Swamp Thing movie with the Anatomy Lesson

BatMite in Canon & Morriverse has me hoping for some Zur-Eh-arrh references in the batfilm.

Sad to see, still no news on reviving the weird hunchback that lives in batmans cellar and fixes his stuff.

when's he gonna get his six part series on HBO?

most anyone who clicked the post already knows all this but for people unfamiliar with writer Grant Morrison's work in the DCU, this is a not-unreasonable primer (sic may disagree):
https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/james-gunn-dc-universe-chapter-one-why-you-should-read-grant-morrison

Okay obviously not GunnCU but since this might as well be the rolling thread now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hebWYacbdvc

a) shades of Rick and Morty
b) no cosmic treadmill no credibility
c) i hope keaton got paid well

I think Swamp Thing would work better as a tv streaming series. I don’t know that it would pace right for a 2 hour movie.

Wasn’t there a Swamp Thing series recently?

Ah, there was, cancelled after 1 series.

It was better than the movies, but that's really faint praise. Swamp Thing can't be a dude in a suit, it just doesn't work.

I was surprised to see the Blue Devil turn up in it.

v weird to see the keaton batman, who was almost completely immobile in the burton movies, nimbly flapping around in this like prequel-era cgi yoda

maybe there'll be a scene explaining his new yoga regime

Very recognisably Glasgow city centre at about the 0.11 mark on that trailer, complete with bus stops.

All narrative roads lead to the multiverse.

while I think that superhero fiction is a net negative in culture and wish that its period of dominance in popular culture would end, there is a part of me that feels sad that the DC milieu got fucked up SO BAD for movies by WB in the last ten years…WB and DC had decades of synergy so that they could get this right and not watch Marvel/Disney run away with this shit…I almost think that its too late and they should focus on the post CW TV shit and build their franchise there…I tried to watch some of the tv Crisis crossovers, but it was too much for me, a 60s-80s DC alt earth expert…

Is it not also odd that Marvel got to the different earths/timeline shit before DC? since 1961, that's been DC's thing, and Marvel only messed with that sparingly, almost as a commentary on that stuff being a cornerstone of DC storytelling/universe building. I would almost think Gunn should see to it that none of his films should mess with that conceit if Marvel is making Dr Strange movies about multiverse shit…

A thing:

https://deadline.com/2023/03/james-gunn-direct-superman-movie-warner-bros-dc-1235300632/

In what should come as no surprise, James Gunn will be directing his own script for Superman: Legacy, a major lynchpin project which will off the the multi-platform connected DC universe – “Chapter One, Gods and Monsters” ­– which he and his DC’ Co-Chairmen & CEO Peter Safran are launching....Superman Legacy tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned. Gunn has already mentioned on social that his Superman will be younger than his forties. The all-new action adventure is set to soar into theaters worldwide on July 11, 2025.

xp The contrast w/Marvel is pretty fascinating; esp. considering that DC had the "studio synergy" in place for decades longer.

Okay, so:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhUht6vAsMY

Weird that they de-aged Brendan Fraser and got the guy from the New Radicals to play Lex Luthor.

Is this the first time they've done Krypto? Shame there's no sign of the rest of the Legion of Super-Pets.

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/b/b6/Legion_of_Super-Pets_01.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20220507020755

there was a Super-Pets animated movie a couple of years ago but it seems to have left absolutely no cultural footprint

Everything Gunn has directed has been solid, including that new cartoon, but they have also been pretty quippy, a vibe that just don't jibe with Superman, so I guess I'm ... intrigued?

At first I could have sworn they were playing the music from "Top Gun," which would have been funny.

I’m excited!!
love Krypto being in this <3
Also my god Corenswet is a handsome fellow

I hope we find out how Superman got his powers.

Predicting it now: there will be one touching Christopher Reeve easter egg in this. Like, a hospital called Reeve General or something like that.

I hope we find out how Superman got his powers.

Gunn's been saying how the film basically starts in the middle of an action scene and that we don't have origin story stuff. Thank goodness.

when i saw corenswet in twisters i thought he looked like a tesco value henry cavill and i fucking hated cavill’s superman

gunn’s take on the character seems like a good one, though, and krypto was a very pleasant surprise, so fingers crossed for this

Really liked Jyoti Mishra/White Town's post here:

https://mas.to/@Jyoti/113680736982340185

I am a fan of Zack Snyder's (flawed) take on DC superheroes, but between Snyder and Nolan's films of the last 20 years, it's pleasantly jarring to see a DC film that is not dark and gritty. (Sorry Shazam doesn't count)

Everything Gunn has directed has been solid, including that new cartoon,

Gunn has not directed a new cartoon. I don’t think I made it though a whole episode of PG Porn (and at least one of the Guardians films is bad).

Looks to be crammed with well-designed visual spectacle, but the music is completely unimaginative and paint-by-the-numbers. That's about all I can derive from that trailer.

lol sic burn, you're right, he didn't direct the new cartoon series, he just wrote, produced and created it. My bad.

keeping guy gardner's bowl cut comic-accurate is not the hill i'd die on, but i salute the sacrifice
https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/4apc59wawd4.png

lol sic burn, you're right, he didn't direct the new cartoon series, he just wrote

if by "everything he's directed" you mean "anything he wrote too" then the floor is open for a fervent defence of The Specials

Looks to be crammed with well-designed visual spectacle, but the music is completely unimaginative and paint-by-the-numbers. That's about all I can derive from that trailer.

(1) that's the Reeves theme
(2) I'm guessing they won't use it in the next trailer much less the film
(3) it was good!
(4) you're wrong for an additional reason not listed here

Anyway I'm into it, only Morrison-man can save us now.

yeah it’s just a variation on the John Williams theme played on electric guitar. if it’s paint by numbers, it’s because the man’s movie themes have been omnipresent for decades. he invented the numbers scheme

IMO they should just use the original score, like flat out, exactly the same score from the first Superman movie. this electric guitar version is like when they use a slow, sad ballad version of an 80's hit in a trailer.

eh, he’s got his regular collaborator doing the score and I’m sure they’ll put it together. probably not as many soundtrack drops as his other superhero movies and tv shows, but who knows?

as long as he holds back on pop songs over the years referencing Superman. James, I know you’re tempted, but

james gunn has a thing for animals that act like humans. rocket, king shark, now krypto. also the scooby-doo.

Ha, that's true. And Cosmo, and Weasel, and I'm sure in the unreleased "Coyote Vs Acme."

and eagly in peacemaker, and sparky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIXp0C_4kS8

ohhhhh Luthor is Nux from Fury Road. nice.

Also Beast from X-Men, Tony from Skins and Boy from About A Boy

also zombie bloke from Warm Bodies, husband of The Great from The Great, Renfield from Renfield, and Juror #2 from Juror #2

Also Jack from Jack the Giant Slayer, Lyle Worth from Dark Places, and Constable Patrick from True History of the Kelly Gang

And Tolkien from Tolkien.

He was also the stelfox

(In the 2015 movie Kill Your Friends)

THANKS

He was lukas in _ILX: The Movie_ uh wait

"Name's Lobo."

He is the perfect actor for the role but I’m experiencing dissonance since the Aquaman movie came out eight minutes ago

Being a Marvel stan, always thought of Lobo as low-calorie ‘90s Image Comics meets Wolverine in KISS makeup, spouting cute Galactica frak-isms. Looking forward to Gunn teaching me otherwise. Will be a writer/director vs actor with ham tendencies.

Wolverine in Kiss makeup is about right tbh… he is a bounty hunter, has the same healing factor as wolverine, he’s also a bit of an asshole and a loner.

He might be closer to deadpool though as he’s been in more outlandish situations like trying to kill Santa Claus.

By most accounts Lobo was intentionally created to be an over the top parody of Wolverine

Some tiny new bits and pieces, including Lex seeming even MORE Bezos like if that’s possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvLvSuLISqI

Updates and things and plans:

https://gizmodo.com/dcu-movie-updates-james-gunn-batman-supergirl-peacemaker-2000567205

Really appreciate the "good script" concentration. Keep the Jon Peters-types away from the product.

Looking forward to Gunn's balancing act between comedic and serious, plausibility and suspension of disbelief, etc. The DCU is better with him than with bro Snyder's Batman blazing guns.

It'd never happen, but I'd love to see a Legion of Super-Heroes film. Gen V and New Mutants mine the same young hero territory, it could be done.

I can’t imagine any version of the LSH that would work as a feature film

No memorable plotlines or you don't find the characters worthy? Could be as simple as adapting the recent Bendis formation arc.

Plenty of ideas here, including animated films I didn't know of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Super-Heroes

Enjoy some Krypto:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFU8U4UVUBs

Lookin' good.

I can’t imagine any version of the LSH that would work as a feature film
― joey crack, aka kaiser saucer (sic), Monday, February 24, 2025 2:54 PM (one month ago)

No memorable plotlines or you don't find the characters worthy? Could be as simple as adapting the recent Bendis formation arc.
Plenty of ideas here, including animated films I didn't know of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Super-Heroes
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Monday, February 24, 2025 3:25 PM (one month ago)

This is something I've thought about a lot, to the point of constructing fantasy versions in my head of what such a film (or film series) may look like... and I have to agree with sic, I can't puzzle out any way to make it "work" that would be true to the property in any essential way. Maybe if they just took the name and a few basic concepts...

(but I'm also not a screenwriter or producer, so I suppose my inability to think it through isn't necessarily dispositive)

And here we go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox8ZLF6cGM0

One last trailer! (With more stuff.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZTgJy8ym34

have been enjoying watching Superman fans on Twitter geek out over these

have also enjoyed them posting comic scans of Superman standing up for immigrants

I've never particularly cared about Superman one way or the other, and the last few attempts at bringing him back to the big screen have been dire and depressing, but darn it, these trailers look great.

I think Gunn probably knows how dire the track record has been.

Anonymous commentor on deadline.com says "Saw it an an agency screening last week as a +1.
It’s excellent."